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BABINGTON 

ON  EDUCATION 

WITH 

A  PRELIMINARY  ESSAY. 

BY   T    H.  GALLAITDET 

FOURTH  AMERICAN 

FROM  THE  SEVENTH  LONDON  EDITION. 


y 


I  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,  | 
f  Princeton,  N.  J.  1 


•^  5<^^>9  S^^^*®  ®' 


BV  1475  .B2  1831 
Babington,  T. 
A  practical  view  of 
Christian  education 


\  'opinion  of  this  work. 

Extracts  from  a  review  of  this  volume  pttblished  in  the  "  Christian 
Spectator,"  printed  at  New  Haven. 

To  Mr.  Babington  it  has  been  left,  to  discover  the  key  that 
xmlocks  the  mystery  of  Education.  The  book  every  where  gives 
evidence  that  the  author  understands  himself  well ; — it  teems  with 
the  fruits  of  long  experience  and  extensive  observation ;  of  an  un- 
derstanding sound  and  comprehensive ;  and  a  judgment  matured 
and  unbiassed. — Mr.  B.'s  sentences  are  uniformly  clear  and  per- 
spicuous, and  his  language  always  appropriate  and  correct,  and 
often  elegant.— Like  a  letter  written  on  business,  it  is  a  real  matter 
of  fact  production^;  it  deserves  to  be,  again  and  again,  read  by 
every  parent. 

Our  author  discountenances  the  use  of  emulation  in  education, 
meaning  by  the  term,  the  selfish  desire  to  obtain  a  superiority 
over  a  person,  operating  as  the  sole  motive  to  exertion. 

When  we  call  to  mind  the  often  repeated,  (though  on  that  ac- 
count not  the  less  valuable,)  fact,  that  it  is  upon  the  intelligence 
and  good  principles  of  its  subjects,  that  the  American  RepubHc 
depends  for  its  permanency  and  prosperity,  how  vastly  important 
does  a  correct  early  education  become.  It  is  the  corner  stone  of 
our  political  edifice ;  and  he  is  a  patriot  of  the  first  order,  who 
lends  his  talents,  his  example,  and  his  influence,  to  promote  so 
great  a  blessing. 


«     I 


PRACTICAL  VIEW 


CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


FROM  THE  SEVENTH  LONDON  EDITION. 


BY   T.   BABINGTON,   ESQ. 

LATE    MEMBISR    OF    PARLIAMENT. 


WITH 

A  PRELIMINARY  ESSAY. 


BY  REV.  T.  H.  GALLAUDET. 


FOURTH  AMERICAN  EDITION, 


PUBLISHED  BY  COOKE  AND  CO. 
1831. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1831 — By 
Cooke  and  Co.,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of 
Connecticut. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Preliminary  Essay.     By  T.  H.  Gallaudet J 

Chap.  I. — Inadequate  Attention  to  Religion  in  Education — Some  of 
its  Causes 17 

Chap.  II. — The  Period  from  early  Infancy  to  the  Learning  to  Read. 
— Faulty  Course  commonly  pursued. — A  very  early  attention  to 
Tempers  and  Habits  recommended. — Religion  how  to  be  In- 
stilled.—Parental  Example 32 

Chap.  III. — General  Observations.— Parents  to  guard  against  their 
Faults  in  the  presence  of  their  Children. — Children  not  to  be 
made  Playthings.— The  Child's  Good,  and  not  the  Parent's  Ease, 
to  be  the  Object. — The  Heart  to  be  had  in  View  rather  than  the 
Outward  Act. — Guard  against  a  Cliild's  Artifices. — Study  Con- 
sistency of  System. — Intercourse  with  your  Children. — Freedom 
of  Conversation. — Study  of  Character. — Personal  Exertion  in 
Education 46 

Chap.  IV.— The  Period  between  a  Child's  Beginning  to  Read  and 
going  to  School :  its  Importance.— The  Objects  of  Education, 
and  their  relative  Value.— Commencement  of  Instruction  in 
Reading.  —  Rousseau  :  —  Education  a  Discipline.— Choice  of 
Books.— Tones  and  Articulation.— Care  in  the  Use  of  Religious 
Books  : — Selection  of  them. — Catechisms     .    .    , 68 

Chap.  V. — Mechanical  Reading  :  how  obviated. — School  Lessons  to 
promote  Moral  Qualities  :  Obedience  ;  Regularity  ;  Attention  ; 
Patience  ;  Alacrity.— Happy  Fruits  of  these  Qualities.— Failures 
to  be  expected.— How  to  "be  1  orne 97 


il  CONTENTS. 

Page 
Chap.  VI. — Means  lor  the  Support  ol  Tarwnlal  AuUiorily  and  Influ- 
ence.— RewariJs  and  Puaislirnejits 112 

Chap.  VII. — Example. — Emulation. — Eftect  of  Personal  Character 
of  Parents.— Deceit 131 

Chap.  VIII. — Attention  to  Children  when  not  at  their  Lessons. — 
Amusements. — Behaviour  of  Children  to  each  other. — Quarrels. 
— A  Domineering,  or  a  Teasing  Spirit. — Selfishness  and  Jea- 
lousy.—Conduct  of  the  two  Sexes  to  each  other.— Domestic  Ef- 
fects in  well  and  ill  educated  Families  contrasted. — Acquain- 
tance.—Familiarity  with  Servants 147 

Chap.  IX.— Hardihood.— Moderate  Habits.— Artificial  Hardships.— 
Moderation  favorable  to  Elevation  of  Character.— Rules.— Pre- 
paration for  Prayer.— Self-Examination.— Prayer.— How  long 
Boys  should  be  kept  under  Domestic  Education.— Preparation 
for  School. — Governess 168 

Appendix.— No.  1 185 

No.  II 19& 

No.  HI 196 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY, 


Infidelity  and  Atheism  are  openly  avowed  in  our  land.  Nay, 
what  is  worse,  those  who  reject  the  Bible,  and  deny  that  there  is 
a  God,  seek  to  make  proselytes  to  these  appalling  doctrines. 

For  this  purpose,  plans  are  organized ;  societies  are  formed  ; 
meetings  are  held  ;  lectures  are  delivered ;  books  are  published  ; 
and  the  press, — the  great  moral  lever  of  our  country, — is  put  in 
motion.  The  MinisteTS  of  Jesus  Christ  are  represented  as  a  band 
of  vile  impostors.  The  Word  of  God  is  treate'd  with  contempt 
and  ridicule.  The  Sabbath  is  declared  to  be  a  superstitious  ob- 
serv-ance,  and  worthy  only  of  being  discEU*ded  and  forgotten. 
Marriage  is  denounced,  as  unnatural,  selfish,  and  oppressive.  In 
fine.  Religion,  with  its  haUowed  institutions  and  awful  sanctions  ; 
and  Morality,  with  all  its  restraints  and  obligations  ;  must  no  more 
check  the  irmocent  propensities  of  our  nature,  and  man  may  live, 
as  if  Death  v^ere  an  eternal  sleep 

Let  it  not  be  said,  that,  in  all  this,  there  is  no  just  cause  of 
alarm  ;  that  the  evil  will  cure  itself;  that  there  is  too  much  good 
sense,  and  patriotism,  and  piety  in  the  community,  to  suffer  the 
interests  of  religion  and  morality  to  be  endangered  ;  that  oppo- 
sition will  but  aggravate  the  mischief ;  and  that  truth  is  omnipo- 
tent, and  will  triumph  in  her  own  majestic  strength,  without  the 
aid  of  any  auxiliary. 

How  then  has  error  ever  gained  the  ascendency  in  any  age  or 
country  ?  Did  the  monster  start  into  being,  at  once,  in  all  his  gi- 
gantic and  terrific  shape  ?  Was  not  his  birth-place  often  unknown, 
his  growth  gradual,  his  movements  insidious  ?  Timely  resistance 
might  have  prevented  his  influence  ;  might  have  for  ever  annihi-^ 


O  PRELIMINARY    ESSAY. 

lated  it.  But  he  was  not  feared,  till  age  had  given  him  strength, 
and  partisans,  and  victory.  And,  then,  nothing  but  a  tremendous 
conflict  could  resist  and  subdue  his  power. 

So  it  may  he  in  our  country.  So  it  will  he,  if  the  friends  of 
religion  do  not  bestir  themselves,  and  watch  every  movement  of 
its  enemies,  and  meet  their  covert  wiles,  as  well  as  their  open 
attacks,  with  the  weapons  of  truth  and  righteousness. 

How  many  of  our  youth,  especially  in  ouj  large  cities,  are  ex- 
posed to  the  seductive  influence  of  the  advocates  of  infidelity. 
Some  from  curiosity ;  others  from  a  false  notion  of  independence  ; 
and  not  a  few,  to  overcome  the  reproaches  of  conscience,  that  they 
may  riot  in  sin  without  i-emorse ;  are  led  to  listen  to  those  who 
scoff  at  sacred  things,  to  attend  their  meetings  of  free  debate  and 
inquiry,  and  to  purchase  and  read  their  deistical  and  blasphemous 
publications.  Every  one  thus  corrupted,  in  his  turn,  corrupts 
others.  The  evil  spreads.  It  is  fast  spreading.  The  mere  fact, 
that  a  public  print  dares  openly  to  avow  these  principles  of  irre- 
ligion,  and  finds  supporters,  proves  this  ;  and  shows  that  no  means 
should  be  left  unemployed  to  rescue  the  rising  ^generation,  the 
hope  of  our  beloved  country,  from  the  contamination  of  this  deadly 
poison. 

The  religious  education  of  our  cldldren  ai\d  youth  is  our  great,  I 
had  almost  said,  our  only  security.  The  advocates  of  infidelity 
know  full  well  the  importance  of  this  principle ;  and  hence  their 
dislike  of  marriage,  and  of  the  domestic  relations  of  life.  Paren- 
tal government,  in  their  estimation,  is  a  minor  theocracy ;  the  very 
fountain-head  of  slavish  fear,  and  of  all  the  horrors  of  superstition. 
They  would  destroy  it  for  ever.  Let  marriage  be  dissolved.  Let 
the  family  circle  be  broken  up.  Let  the  ties  of  kindred  be  known 
and  felt  no  more.  Let  the  children  belong  to  the  public,  and  be 
nurtured  and  educated  at  the  public  charge.  Then  you  will  be 
able  to  mould  this  ductile  mass  of  infantile  human  nature,  and 
form,  as  you  choose,  the  combination  of  circumstances,  of  which 
these  men  and  loomen  in  miniature  are  to  be  the  creatures.  All 
foreign  influence  being  removed,  these  children  of  nature  will 
begin  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  laivs  of  their  being.  Each  will 
live  only  to  be  happy,  and  to  make  all  other.?  so.     In  the  progress 


PREMMINARY    ESSAY.  3 

of  a  few  generations,  the  tide  of  population  will  begin  to  flow  on, 
free  from  every  impurity  ;  never  again  to  have  any  thing  foul  or 
turbid  mingle  in  its  waters. 

Yes;  parental  government  is  a  minor  theocracy.  God,  in  His 
wisdom,  has  instituted  it.  How  admirable  this  provision  which 
He  has  made  for  such  creatures  as  we  are  I  We  have  a  helpless 
infancy,  and  a  dependent  childhood.  We  need  the  walchings  of 
maternal  solicitude,  and  the  suppUes  of  a  father's  care,  to  cherish 
and  sustain  us.  The  very  birds  in  their  nest  exemplify  and  incul- 
cate this  truth.  The  whole  animal  creation  teaches  us  the  force 
and  the  value  of  parental  affection.  But  man,  of  all  other  ani- 
mals, needs  to  be  the  object  of  this  affection,  far,  far  the  longest 
portion  of  time.  God,  therefore,  has  made  provision  for  these  pe- 
culiar wants  of  our  species,  hy  the  distribution  of  viankind  into 
families.  And  in  the  family  state,  man  is  to  be  prepared  for  all 
the  relations  which  he  is  to  sustain  in  life,  as  a  member  of  society ; 
or  in  eternity,  as  a  subject  of  God's  universal  empire. 

The  authority  exercised  by  the  parent ;  the  moral  influence 
which  he  exerts  upon  the  child  ;  the  confidence  which  the  child 
reposes  in  him  ;  its  filial  affection,  submission  and  obedience  ;  all 
these  are  illustrations  and  enforcements  of  the  obUgations  that  are 
yet  to  rest  upon  the  child,  as  it  grows  up,  in  regard  to  God  and  to 
its  fellow-men.  In  the  very  early  stages  of  education,  and  while 
the  infantile  mind  is  not  yet  capable  even  of  comprehending  the 
truth,  that  there  is  an  infinite  and  invisible  Being  to  whom  it  is 
accountable,  and  whose  will  it  is  bound  to  obey  ;  the  parent  is,  as 
it  were,  in  the  place  of  God,  to  the  child.  The  parent  is  tJie  superior 
being  whom  the  child  recognizes,  as  having  a  just  claim  to  its  love 
and  obedience.  The  will  of  the  parent  often  clashes  with  the 
will  of  the  child.  The  latter  learns  the  necessity  and  the  duty  of 
yielding.  It  is  thus  taught,  that  its  will  must  submit  to  tlie  w  ill  of 
another.  It  is  prepared,  in  this  way,  both  to  understand  and  to 
recognize  the  authority  of  God  himself,  and  to  know  and  to  feel 
that  His  will  is  to  control,  and  to  bring  into  complete  subjection, 
the  wills  of  all  the  beings  whom  He  has  former!. 

Besides,  how  .should  we  ever  be  able  to  form  any  adequate  con- 
^'eptions  of  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  or  of  the  endearing  rela- 


4  PRELIMINARY    ESSAY. 

tion  in  which  we  stand  to  Him,  if  we  were  not  acquainted  with 
the  bond  which  unites  the  earthly  parent  and  the  child  ?  Having 
sustained  this  relation,  we  are  prepared  to  comprehend  that  higher 
one  in  which  we  stand  to  the  Father  of  our  spirits.  It  is  thus, 
that  amid  the  endearments,  instructions,  and  restramts  of  the  pa- 
rental roof,  the  child  is  to  be  taught  the  exercise  of  those  very 
affections,  and  the  discharge  of  those  very  duties,  which,  under 
the  influence  of  divine  truth,  are  to  form  his  matiure  character  of 
piety  towards  God,  and  of  good-will  to  men. 

Destroy  marriage.  Break  up  the  family  state.  And  the  boldest 
step  is  taken  ;  most  sure  in  its  progress,  and  most  extensive  in  its 
effects, — to  banish  from  the  world,  both  the  knowledge  and  the 
love  of  Jehovah. 

The  religious  instruction  of  children,  given  by  the  parent,  in  the 
family,  enforced  by  a  consistent  example,  and  accompanied  with 
fervent  prayer,  furnishes  fathers  and  mothers  with  the  only  well- 
grounded  hope,  that  their  offspring  wUl  be  secure  against  the 
assaults  of  infidelity  and  the  temptations  of  the  world,  and  that 
they  will  become  the  faithful  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  fur- 
nishes the  philanthi'opist  with  the  only  rational  expectation,  that  a 
Buccession  of  patrons  and  agents  will  follow  on,  one  after  the 
other,  to  sustam  and  carry  forward  the  benevolent  institutions  and 
enterprises  of  the  day.  It  furnishes  the  patriot  with  the  only  sure 
promise  of  the  future  welfare  of  his  country.  It  furnishes  the 
friends  of  the  Redeemer  with  the  only  certain  and  delightful  an- 
ticipation of  the  rapid  spread  of  His  gospel,  and  speedy  triumph 
of  Jrlis  cause.  Such  is  the  lofty  destiny,  and  such  are  the  exalted 
privileges  of  the  rising  generation  of  our  land.  And  in  view  of 
them,  what  momentous  responsibilities  rest  upon  those  who  are 
fathers  and  mothers  ! 

Christian  parents  !  weigh  well  these  facts  and  truths  ;  and  say, 
if  there  are  not  obligations  of  the  most  solemn  and  affecting  kind, 
pressing  upon  you,  to  attend  personally,  faitJifully,  and  prayerfully, 
to  the  religious  education  of  yoiu  children. 

This  volume,  containing  A  Practical  View  of  Christian  Education 
in  its  early  stages,  by  Thomas  Babington,  Esq.,  is  one  of  the  best 
treatises  on  this  subject,  in  oiu-  language.  Its  author  was,  not  long 
since,  if  he  is  not  still,  a  member  of  the  British  Parliament,  and 


PRELIMINARY    ESSAY.  5 

also  extensively  engaged  in  commercial  transactions  in  the  city  of 
London.  His  sentiments,  therefore,  repugnant  as  they  doubtlesi 
will  be  to  the  feelings  of  those  who  entertain  vague  and  low  views 
of  Christian  faith  and  practice,  are  not  to  be  attributed  to  the  nar- 
rowness of  his  sphere  of  obsen-ation  or  of  duty  ;  to  his  want  of 
expansion  of  mind  or  refinement  of  feeling  ;  to  his  secluded  habits 
and  ignorance  of  the  world ;  or  to  a  contracted  and  illiberal  esti- 
mate of  the  doctrines  and  requisitions  of  the  gospel.  Nor  is  he  a 
mere  theorist,  descanting  on  what  might  he  best,  and  leaving  plain, 
practical  parents  to  smile  at  the  uselessness  of  his  speculations. 
He  has  himself  brought  up  a  very  numerous  family  of  children,  to 
whose  education  he  has  devoted  his  time  and  attention,  with  an 
assiduity  and  frequency  that  very  few  men,  engaged  in  pubUc  life* 
and  the  transactions  of  an  extensive  business,  have  been  able  to 
bestow  upon  such  an  object.  What  he  says,  therefore,  is  to  be 
received  as  coming  from  one  whose  own  education,  of  the  most 
liberal  and  accomplished  kind ;  whose  situation  in  society,  affording 
him  the  best  opportunities  of  an  enlarged  acquaintance  with  hu- 
man nature  and  the  every -day  duties  of  Ufe  ;  and  whose  personal 
experience  in  reducing  his  principles  to  practice,  or  rather  of  de- 
ducing his  principles  from  his  practice  ;  all  conspire  to  give  great 
weight  to  his  opinions  and  advice,  among  all  parents  w'ho  regard, 
as  they  ought,  not  merely  the  temporal,  but  the  eternal,  welfare  of 
their  offspring. 

In  the  peculiarity  of  his  rehgious  sentiments,  Mr.  Babington, 
who  is  of  the  English,  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  agrees,  in  the 
main,  with  those  expressed  in  the  Christian  Observer,  or  with 
what  may  be  familiar  to  more  of  his  readers  in  this  country,  the 
views  of  Mrs.  Hannah  More. 

The  whole  work  is  printed,  word  for  word,  from  the  seventh 
Dindon  edition ;  a  mode,  it  is  thought,  more  fair  towards  the  au- 
thor, and  vastly  more  acceptable  to  the  generaUty  of  readers,  wlio 
wish  to  judge  for  themselves  of  the  sentiments  that  are  advanced, 
than  to  attempt,  by  any  omissions  or  alterations ,  to  make  such  a 
treatise  conform,  in  all  respects,  to  the  peculiar  views  of  an  indi- 
vidual, or  to  any  particular  standard  of  doctrine  or  of  duty.  In 
some  instances,  the  .sentiments  of  the  author  are  adapted  to  the  pe- 
B  2 


6  PRELIMINARY    ESSAY. 

culiar  class  of  society,  and  to  the  religioios  denomination  to  which 
he  belonged,  and  to  modes  of  educating  children  which  do  not 
prevail  in  this  country.  But,  in  these  respects,  it  is  not  difficult 
to  understand  his  general  principles,  and  to  accommodate  them 
if  they  are  approved,  to  the  circumstances  of  the  reader. 

There  are  some  topics  which  are  not  noticed  at  all,  or  very  cur- 
sorily indeed,  in  this  work,  which  the  writer  of  these  preliminary 
remarks,  deems  of  sufficient  importance  to  present  to  the  con- 
sideration of  those  parents  who  take  an  interest  in  the  religious 
education  of  their  children,  and  to  which  he  begs  leave  to  invite 
their  serious  attention. 

T.  The  want  of  religious  instruction,  hy  the  parent,  in  the  family, 
can  never  be  adequately  supplied  in  any  other  way. 

This  remark  is  not  intended  to  depreciate  other  modes  of  im- 
parting rehgious  instruction  to  children  and  youth.  Let  such 
modes,  and  especially  the  excellent  system  of  Sabbath  school  in- 
struction, receive  the  full  amount  of  praise  to  which  they  are 
justly  entitled.  But  what  other  teacher,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
can  gain  such  an  influence  over  the  child,  and  find  such  easy 
access  to  his  mind  and  to  his  heart,  as  the  parent  can,  and  espe- 
cially the  mother,  if  she  has  the  love  of  God  in  her  soul.  One 
important  object  which  the  Author  of  our  being  doubtless  had 
in  view,  in  constituting  this  endearing  relation,  w-as,  to  make  it 
the  means  of  unfolding  the  intellectual  and  moral  capacities  of 
the  child,  and  of  preparing  him  to  comprehend  and  appreciate  the 
truths  of  Revelation,  through  the  agency  of  the  parent.  From  what 
other  human  being,  if  family  government  has  been  preserved, 
and  the  child  inspired  with  filial  confidence,  and  obedience  and 
love,  can  instruction  be  received  with  such  attention,  docihty,  and 
reverence,  as  from  the  lips  of  a  kind  and  pious  father  or  mother  ? 
After  having  secured  that  attachment  and  respect  which  the 
watchfulness  of  parental  solicitude  has  produced  in  the  breast  of 
infancy  and  early  childhood  ;  after  having  induced  those  habits 
which  are  indispensable  to  the  beneficial  reception  of  religious 
instruction  ;  and  after  having  communicated  the  elements  of  this 
instruction  to  the  expanding  and  inquiring  mind ;  how  can  the 
parent  cease  to  carry  on  a  work  so  auspiciously  hegim, — how  can 


Preliminary  essay.  7 

such  advantages,  so  happily  secured,  be  abandonrnl, — and  the 
tender  vine  be  transplanted  from  its  native  soil,  to  be  reared  under 
the  care  of  a  foreign  and  strange  hand  ! 

Let  it  not  be  said,  that  the  case  supposed  is  an  extreme  one, 
and  rarely,  if  ever,  has  an  existence.  In  all  its  aggravating  cir- 
cumstances, it  may  not  often  be  found,  and  especially  among 
pious  fathers  and  mothers.  But  it  is  worthy  of  serious  inquiry, 
to  what  extent  pare7ital  responsibiJity  is  weakened,  and  parental  care 
diminished,  by  the  provision  v)hich  is  made,  in  other  ways,  for  the 
religious  instruction  of  youth. 

The  children  have  their  Sabbath-school  lesson  to  learn  during 
the  week.  How  far  is  this  considered  as  supplying  the  place  of 
du-ect  religious  conversation  and  instruction,  on  the  part  of  the 
parent  ?  How  many  hours  are  filled  up  by  a  quiet  attention  to 
this  lesson,  affording  the  parent  the  better  opportimity  to  transact 
the  common  concerns  of  the  family,  which  formerly  used  to  be 
devoted  to  the  actual  communication  of  divine  truth  to  the  child  ? 
The  books,  too,  which  are  drawn  from  the  Sabbath-school  library, 
or  borrowed  from  the  neighbor,  or  purchased  at  the  book-store, 
excellent  indeed  in  their  kind,^and  deserving  an  important  place^;^ 
in  the  course  of  religious  education, — are  they  not,  also,  often 
made  to  discharge  the  duty  of  the  parent,  and  to  exonerate  from 
the  task  of  becoming  a  teacher  of  babes  ? 

The  Sabbath  returns ;  hallowed,  among  other  objects,  for  the 
very  ^^va^ose  oi  religious  instruction  in  the  family.  The  father's 
daily  occupation,  and  the  mother's  weekly  cares,  are  suspended. 
The  little  group  surround  the  table  and  the  fire-side.  All  without 
and  within  is  quietness.  Is  the  occasion,  thus  furnished  by  God 
himself,  employed  as  it  ought  to  be  ?  Or  rather,  does  not  the 
preparation  for  the  Sabbath-school,  with  the  time  which  it  con- 
sumes, and  the  belief  of  the  parent,  that  there,  all  that  is  im- 
portant of  religious  knowledge  will  be  communicated  to  the  child, 
serve  to  abate  his  interest  in  his  own  personal  discharge  of  duty, 
and  to  lead  him  to  enjoy  that  ease  wliich  is  so  grateful  to  human 
nature ;  under  the  impression  that  a  system  of  instruction,  approved 
everywhere  by  the  wise  and  the  good,  and  which  he  himself  con- 
tributes to  support  and  cherish,  by  his  influence  and  his  prayers, 


»  PREI.IMINARV     ESSAY. 

IS  doing  all  for  his  offspring  which  'can  be  accomplished,  and  ten- 
dering unnecessary  any  individual  effbris  of  himself  or  his  partner  ? 

The  little  one  who  lately  hung  on  the  lips  of  its  father  or 
mother,  to  learn  something  of  God  and  its  soul,  and  of  its  destiny 
beyond  the  grave,  as  soon  as  an  elder  brother  or  sister  can  conduct 
it  to  the  Sabbath-school,  is  sent  thither,  and  thus  transferred  to 
a  new  teacher,  yet  to  learn  its  disposition  and  habits,  and  to  inspire 
it  with  confidence  and  affection.  The  parent,  shall  I  say,  is  re- 
lieved of  one  more  burden  ;  in  a  way,  too,  to  remove  all  anxiety, 
and  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  conscience. 

Are  these  things  exaggerated  ?  Is  not  the  original  to  the  pic- 
ture which  has  been  dravni,  often  to  be  found  ?  And  much  as 
Sabbath-schools  ought  to  be  encouraged,  and  sustained,  and  ex- 
tended throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  deserving 
the  prayers,  and  the  support  of  all  the  friends  of  their  country 
and  of  the  Redeemer ;  are  there  not  some  dangers  attending  them, 
of  the  kind  that  have  been  mentioned,  and  which  need  to  be 
pointed  out  and  avoided  ? 

No  parent,  surely,  however  faithfully  his  children  may  attend  the 
Sabbath-school,  and  be  prepared  too  for  this  attendance,  can  offer 
this  as  a  reason,  or  plead  it  as  an  excuse,  for  the  neglect  of  per- 
sonal, unremitted,  and  prayerful  attention  to  their  religious  instmc- 
tion  in  the  family. 

Doubtless  there  are  instances,  and  these  very  numerous  ones, 
where  there  is  such  entire  neglect  of  religious  instruction,  on  the 
part  of  the  parent,  that  the  Sabbath-school  is  the  only  means  of 
supplying  this  defect ;  and  a  few  other  cases,  in  which  incompe- 
tency seems  to  forbid  the  hope  of  the  child's  receiving  any  benefit 
in  the  bosom  of  the  fiimily.  But  the  evil  alluded  to  still  exists, 
and  to  no  inconsiderable  extent.  And  it  seems  to  be  an  impera- 
tive duty,  for  ministers  of  the  gospel  to  pres.^  their  obligations 
upon  parents,  and  for  parents  seriously  to  consider  the  weight  of 
these  obligations  ;  and  while  the  child  is  sent  regularly,  and  with 
careful  preparation,  to  rhe  Sabbath-school,  to  take  care  that  the 
salutary  influence  there  employed,  and  the  excellent  instruction 
there  communicated,  shall  have  their  efficacy  increfi«ed  and  ren- 
dered sure,  by  accompanying  offorip  and  prayers  under  the  paren- 


PRELIMINARY    ESSAY.  \) 

tal  roof.     How  else  can  the  express  command  of  God  be  complied 
with,  or  His  blessing  be  implored  or  expected  ? 

And  these  words,  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  shall  be  in  thy 
heart :  and  thou  shall  teach'them  diligently  unto  thy  children,  and 
shall  talk  of  them,  when  thou  sittest  in  the  house,  and  when  thou 
walkest  by  the  way,  and  wlien  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou 
risest  up. 

11.  The  religious  instruction  of  children  should  be  made  a  promi- 
nent part  of  the  whole  course  of  their  education,  and  blended  with  all 
their  other  studies  and  pursuits. 

We  are  commanded,  "  whether  .'we  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever 
we  do,  to  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."  That  reUgion  is  but  little 
worth,  the  spirit  of  which  does  not  manifest  itself  in  the  daily  con- 
cerns and  intercourse  of  life.  Children  should  early  be  taught  this 
important  truth,  both  by  precept  and  by  example.  But  they  will 
not  feel  its  force,  if  religious  instruction  is  communicated  to 
them  in  a  solemn,  formal  way,  and  only  on  certain  recurring  oc- 
casions. 

Suppose  a  parent  is  anxious  that  his  child  should  understand 
and  practise  the  rules  of  what  is  termed  good  breeding,  and  that 
he  should  acquire  the  air  and  manners  of  refined  society.  Will 
he  give  a  set  lecture  on  the  subject  once  a  week,  and  then  furnish 
illustrations  of  his  principles  in  a  very  grave  and  ceremonious 
manner  ?  Will  he  not  rather  seek  occasion,  daily  and  familiarly, 
to  lead  the  child  to  imbibe  those  feelings,  and  to  adopt  those 
habits,  which,  in  his  opinion,  constitute  true  poUteness  ?  And 
why  ought  not  a  similar  course  to  be  pursued,  if  the  paramount 
desire  of  the  parent  is,  that  his  offspring  should  possess,  and  ex- 
hibit in  their  daily  life  and  conversation,  that  "  wisdom  which  is 
from  above,  which  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  be 
intreated,  full  of  mercy  and  of  good  fruits,  without  partiality,  and 
without  hypocrisy." 

The  sooner  the  child  can  be  taught  to  feel  and  to  act  as  an  im- 
mortal being  ;  to  consider  this  life  as  but  the  threshold  of  an  eter- 
nal existence  beyond  the  grave  ;  and  to  make  all  its  occupations 
and  pursuits  subservient  to  the  honor  of  its  Maker,  to  the  cause  of 
the  Redeemer,  and  to  the  best  interests,  both  temporal  and  spi- 


10  PRELIMINARY    ESSAY. 

ritual,  of  its  fellow-men; — the  sooner  is  the  great  object  of 
Christian  education  accomplished. 

If  it  is  the  duty  of  the  mature  Christian  to  blend  the  very  spirit 
of  his  religion  with  all  his  studies,  and  business,  and  intercourse 
with  his  fellow-men ;  and  continually  to  bear  hi  mind  the  con- 
nection which  things  temporal  have  with  things  eternal ;  and  to 
inscribe  holiness  unto  the  Lord  upon  all  his  occupations  and  pur- 
suits ; — why  should  not  the  child  be  educated  on  the  same  ele- 
vated principles,  and  inspired  with  the  same  heavenly  desires,  and 
form  the  same  consistent  habits  of  thought  and  of  action. 

But  it  is  too  often  the  case,  that  the  education  of  the  children, 
even  of  pious  parents,  is  conducted  far,  differently.  In  fact,  two 
processes  of  influence,  and  example,  and  instruction  are  going  on; 
one,  to  prepare  them  to  do  well  in  the  world,  in  accordance  with  the 
maxims  and  the  spirit  of  the  world  ;  the  other,  (ah  !  in  how  lan- 
guid and  desultory  a  way  it  is  pursued,)  to  prepare  them  for  the 
approach  of  death,  and  the  retribulions  of  eternity.  Six  days  in 
the  week,  they  must  conclude,  for  the  most  part,  from  the  general 
tenor  of  the  conversation  which  is  addressed  to  them,  or  which 
they  hear,  in  the  family  circle,  the  school-room,  or  the  common 
walks  of  Ufe,  that  this  world  is  their  only  stage  of  action,  and 
that  their  great  aim  should  be,  to  secure  wealth,  respectability, 
and  distinction.  The  Sabbath,  indeed,  and  now  and  then  some 
unexpected  occurrence  in  Providence,  leads  them  to  mere  serious 
reflections,  and  they  are  gravely  told,  that  they  are  strangers  and 
pilgrims  on  the  earth,  and  that  they  should  seek  a  better,  a  heavenly 
country. 

Why  this  strange  inconsistency  !  Why  this  want  of  harmony 
of  influence,  of  unity  of  design,  of  singleness  of  purpose,  in  train- 
ing up  the  heirs  of  immortality  ! 

What  must  a  child  think  of  this  striking  fact  which  is  con- 
tinually presented  lo  his  observation  ?  He  hears  his  parent,  and 
his  Sabbath-school  teacher,  and  his  minister  declare,  that  the  con- 
cerns of  the  soul  are  more  important  than  all  others  ;  that  his 
happiness  in  eternity  depends  upon  his  embracing  the  offers  of 
salvation  tlirough  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  delay  in  doing  this  may 
prove  his  eternal  ruin.     And  yet  the  individual  to  whose  care  he  is 


PRELIMINARY    ESSAY.  11 

principally  entrusted  during  six  days  of  tlie  week ;  who  is  the 
source  of  most  of  the  knowledge  that  he  is  acquiring  to  prepare 
him  iov  usefulness  and  respectability  in  life ;  whose  influence  in 
forming  his  modes  of  thinking  and  of  acting,  his  whole  character 
and  habits,  is  usually  quite  equal,  and  often  superior,  to  that  of 
the  parent  5  his  daily  instmcter  expresses  no  interest,  gives  no  ad- 
vice, inculcates  no  precepts,  communicates  no  truth,  with  regard 
to  the  welfare  of  his  immortal  spu-it.  How  can  he  account  for 
this  ?  His  parents,  and  the  parents  of  all  his  school-mates,  he 
must  conclude,  have  confidence  in  his  teacher,  or  they  would  not 
place  their  children  under  his  care.  And  yet  this  teacher,  to  say 
the  least,  is  neutral  on  the  subject  of  religion  ;  never  accompanies 
his  injunctions  with  any  appeal  to  the  sanctions  of  duty  towards 
God  ;  never  reproves  misconduct,  or  punishes  disobedience,  with 
a  reference  to  that  omniscient  eye  that  sees  us  at  all  times,  and  to 
that  awful  tribunal  before  whom  we  must  all  stand,  to  render  an 
accoimt  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body  ;  never  encourages  to  do- 
cility and  industry,  to  obedience  and  kindness  by  the  winning 
motives  which  revelation  affords ;  never  invokes  the  divine 
blessing  on  himself  and  his  little  flock,  or  explains  to  their  under- 
standings, or  impresses  upon  their  hearts,  the  interesting  and  af- 
fecting truths  of  the  sacred  oracles  ! 

Now,  what  must  the  child  think  of  all  this  ;  for  think  he  will, 
and  draw  his  own  conclusions.  Must  he  not  suppose,  that,  after 
all,  religion  is  not  such  an  important  matter,  as  he  has  sometimes 
been  taught  to  believe,  and  that,  at  least,  he  need  not  take  a 
deeper  interest  in  it  than  the  mass  of  people  do  who  are  around 
him? 

Is  there  no  remedy  for  these  evils  ?  In  a  land  called  Christian ; 
among  those  who  profess  to  be  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
who  admit,  in  principle,  the  solemn  obligations  which  they  are 
under,  to  train  up  their  offspring  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord  ;  shall  no  regard  be  had  to  the  religious  character  of  the 
teacher  who  has  the  care  of  their  children,  the  greater  part  of  the 
time,  and  whose  example  and  influence  have  upon  them  an  effect, 
that  must  be  felt  not  only  in  this  world,  but  in  that  which  is  to 
come.     I  say  no  regard ;  for  how  prevalent  the  opinion  is,  that 


12  PRELIMTNARY    ESSAY. 

intellectual  qualifications,  and  a  good  moral  character,  are  the 
only  requisites  to  be  sought  after  in  selecting  a  teacher  of 
youth. 

It  is  admitted,  that  piety,  in  such  cases,  is  not  always  to  be 
found,  and  that  such  is  the  state  of  society,  and  the  difficulties 
growing  out  of  those  differences  which  exist  among  the  various 
religious  denominations,  that  very  often,  this  defect  cannot  be 
remedied,  and  must  be  submitted  to. 

But  is  the  general  apathy  on  this  subject  justifiable  ?  Would 
not  a  spirit  of  conciliation  and  of  compromise  often  produce  a 
better  state  of  things  ?  Surely,  if  the  whole  Christian  pubhc 
could  be  made  to  view  this  matter  in  its  true  light,  in  the  light  of 
eternity,  and  to  appreciate  the  worth  of  the  immortal  souls  of  their 
offspring,  sectarian  feelings  would  be  laid  aside  ;  there  would  be 
a  demand  for  pious  teachers  of  youth  ;  their  numbers  would  gra- 
dually increase  ;  and  the  blessing  of  heaven  would  rest  upon  one 
of  the  most  ejficacious  means  of  grace, — the  conducting  of  the  whole 
course  of  education  upon  the  principles  of  the  gospel ;  and  the 
training  up  of  children  and  youth,  to  perform  all  the  duties,  and 
attend  to  all  the  concerns  of  life,  xoith  a  continual  reference  to  the 
relation  in  which  they  stand  to  God,  and  the  bearing  which  their 
conduct  here  is  to  have  upon  their  eternal  destiny. 

Such  a  course,  so  far  from  casting  the  gloom  of  what  some 
consider  a  religious  melancholy,  over  all  the  business  and  inter- 
course of  life,  would  prove  the  very  means  of  divesting  religion 
of  formality  and  constraint,  by  blending  it  with  all  our  feelings, 
and  conversation  and  conduct ;  by  applying  its  principles  to  the 
thousand,  nameless,  every  day  occurrences  which  constitute  the 
happiness  or  the  suffering  of  the  great  mass  of  mankind ;  by 
transfusing  its  spirit  of  peace  and  love  into  families,  and  neigh- 
bourhoods, and  communities  ;  by  redeeming  it  from  the  reproach 
which  it  has  now  too  often  to  bear,  that  its  professors  can  pray 
and  preach,  but  do  not  practise ;  by  making  it  a  familiar  com- 
panion, and  not  an  occasional  censor  and  judge ;  and  thus  shedding 
a  cheerfulness,  and  conferring  a  dignity  upon  all  that  we  do  or 
suffer,  by  connecting  it  all  with  the^  will  of  our  Father  who  is  in 
heaven,  and  with  His  gracious  assurance,  that  .'all  things  shall 


PRELIMINARY    ESSAY.  13 

work  together,  for  the  eternal  good  of  those  who  put  their  trust  in 
him. 

III.  The  Bible  should  he  made  the  great  instrument  of  government 
in  families,  and  in  schools. 

The  most  efTieacioiis  kind  of  government,  is  that  which  is  ex- 
ercised through  the  medium  of  moral  influence.  Physical  force 
may  control  the  outward  conduct,  and  in  some  cases,  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary,  but  it  rarely  reaches  the  heart.  The  rod  cannot 
safely  be  laid  aside  ;  but  the  less  frequent  the  necessity  there  is 
of  using  it  the  better.  The  more  the  child  can  be  brought  to  un- 
derstand with  a  clear  conception,  and  to  feel  with  a  delicate  sen- 
sibility, the  distinctions  between  right  and  wrong ;  to  yield  to  the 
influence  of  motives  addressed  to  its  sense  of  duty ;  and  to  act  as 
a  free,  moral  agent,  on  its  own  accountability,  and  with  a  view  to 
the  consequences  of  its  actions  ;  the  sooner  will  it  begin  to  ac- 
quire settled  principles  of  thought  and  of  conduct ;  to  form  habits 
of  self-control ;  to  enjoy  the  satisfaction  of  doing  well,  and  to 
tremble  at  the  reproaches  of  conscience  for  doing  ill ;  and  thus  to 
be  prepared  for  those  responsibilities  which  must  rest  upon  it, 
when  it  is  no  longer  under  parental  inspection  and  guardianship. 

The  great  secret  of  governing  children,  is  to  teach  them  self-go- 
vernment. ITnless  this  is,  sooner  or  later,  acquired,  the  child  con- 
tinues to  be  a  mere  automaton,  moving  at  the  will  of  another, 
and  fit  only,  when  arrived  to  mature  age,  to  be  a  conscript  in  the 
army  of  some  military  despot.  God  has  made  us  rational,  fi-ee, 
and  accountable  moral  agents.  Even  He  himself  will  not  use 
physical  force  to  compel  us  to  love  and  obey  Him.  His  request 
is,  my  son,  give  me  thine  heart. 

My  son,  give  me  thine  heart.  Let  this  be  the  motto,  adopted  by 
every  parent  and  teacher  in  the  government  of  children  and  youth. 
Point  them  to  their  Father  who  is  in  heaven ;  to  the  Saviour  who 
died  to  redeem  them  ;  to  the  Spirit  of  holiness  who  alone  can 
purify  their  hearts.  Bring  them  to  the  Bible  as  soon  as  they  can 
be  made  to  comprehend  at  all,  that  it  is  the  word  of  God.  Tell 
them  that  it  is  the  letter  of  His  love,  sent  to  them,  to  them  indi- 
vidually, to  them  personally.  Make  them  feel  its  awful  sanctions. 
Recite  to  them  its  wonderful  history.  Explain  to  them  its  doc- 
c 


14  PRELIMINARY    ESSAY. 

irinee  and  precepts,  so  far  as  they  are  capable  of  understanding 
them.  Let  them  know,  that  by  this  sacred  book,  they  will  finally 
be  judged.  With  tender  solemnity,  unfold  to  them  what  it  reveals 
of  their  eternal  destiny,  and  of  the  only  way  of  securing  the  sal- 
vation of  their  souls.  Especially,  let  Jesus  Christ,  in  all  his  en- 
dearing traits  of  character,  and  in  all  the  fulness  of  his  mediatorial 
office,  he  presented  to  them,  frequently,  earnestly,  affectionately,  as 
the  friend  of  children ;  as  the  friend  of  sinners  ;  as  their  only 
Saviour ;  who,  if  they  trust  in  Him,  and  obey  His  precepts,  and  are 
faithful  in  His  service,  will  assuredly  guide  and  protect  them 
through  life,  sustain  them  in  death,  and  receive  them,  at  last,  to 
the  mansions  of  eternal  rest. 

When  children  feel,  or  speak,  or  do  wrong,  let  the  parent  or  the 
teacher,  with  great  self-possession  and  kindness,  and  yet  with 
equal  firmness  and  authority,  reason  with  the  little  offender  out  of 
the  word  of  God.  Bring  him  to  the  divine  standard.  Convince 
him  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment,  by  a  direct  appeal  to 
the  highest  of  all  authority,  to  the  declarations  of  God  himself. 
Make  him  perceive  and  feel  that  he  has  sinned  against  God,  and 
done  evil  in  His  sight.  Lead  him,  if  possible,  to  a  genuine  con- 
trition of  soul.  Make  use  of  the  occasion,  to  show  him  that  he 
has  not  only  this  sin,  but  many  others,  to  be  repented  of,  and  that 
he  needs  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins,  through  the  merits  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  the  sanctification  of  his  heart,  through  the  influences 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  before  he  can  hope  for  the  blessing  and  favor  of 
God  in  this  hfe,  and  for  communion  with  Him  in  that  which  is  to 
come. 

I  would  not  be  understood  to  mean,  that  this  is  to  be  done  at  all 
times,  with  equal  formality  and  solemnity,  or  that  it  is  to  be  done 
on  every  slight  occasion,  and  for  every  trivial  offence.  But  the 
mere  recital  of  a  text  of  Scripture,  appropriate  to  the  character 
and  conduct  of  the  child,  accompanied  with  a  reference  to  the 
omniscient  eye,  and  to  the  supreme  authority,  of  the  great  Lawgiver, 
will,  in  most  cases,  produce  an  effect  more  sensible  and  more 
abiding,  than  any  exhibition  of  the  inferior  atithority  of  the  parent 
or  the  teacher. 

The   truth    is, — and   it   has  been  tested  in  some  families,  and 


I'RKI.IMINARV    tSSAY.  15 

schools,  and  nistitutions  for  the  instruction  of  youth, — tUt  more 
prominent  the  authority  of  God  is  made,  speaking  through  His  written 
word,  and  the  authority  of  the  parent  and  teacher,  made  subordi- 
nate to  it,  and  merely  instrumental  in  carrying  it  into  effect,  the 
more  easily  have  the  child  and  the  pupil  been  brought  into  a  state 
of  uniform  subordination  and  obedience. 

Let  the  experiment  be  fairly  tried,  and  it  will  be  found,  that  in 
this,  as  in  all  other  cases,  God  will  honor  and  bless  his  own  truth, — 
that  divine  ivord,  which  is  quick  and  powerful,  sharper  than  any  two- 
edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  the  joints  and 
the  marrow,  and  discerning  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart. 


A 

PRACTICAL  VIEW 

OF 

CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION. 


CHAP.   I. 


Inadequate  Attention  to  Religion  in   Education. — Some 
of  its  Causes. 

Most  persons  have  occasionally  met  with  a  new 
mansion,  showy  in  its  appearance,  and  commanding 
a  fine  prospect,  but  destitute  of  that  first  of  all  re- 
quisites— good  water.  Captivated  by  the  beauties 
of  a  favorite  spot,  and  anticipating  a  long  and  happy 
residence  in  the  midst  of  attractive  domains,  the 
gentlemen  who  build  houses  sometimes  forget  that 
there  are  certain  necessaries  of  life,  for  the  want  of 
which  none  of  its  embellishments  or  honors  can  com- 
pensate. A  similar  disappointment,  but  of  a  more 
affecting  nature,  very  frequently  awaits  the  builders 
of  that  figurative  house — a  family  of  children.  Their 
parents  have  taken  the  greatest  pains  to  enable  them 
to  make  a  figure  in  the  world ;  but  they  have  ne- 
glected to  use  the  proper  means  for  furnishing  their 
minds  with  certain  items  in  the  catalogue  of  qualifi- 
cations for  a  useful,  respectable,  and  happy  life — 
namely,  religious  principles  and  habits.    The  house 


18  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

is  erected  ;  but,  alas,  there  is  no  water ! — That  those 
who  despise  religion  should  not  wish  the  minds  of 
their  children  to  be  imbued  with  it,  is  natural  and  to 
be  expected  ;  and  that  those  who,  while  they  osten- 
sibly acknowledge  the  value  of  religion,  yet  hold 
that  the  heart  of  man  is  naturally  good — and  that 
the  evils  which  abound  in  the  world  may  be  ascribed 
to  the  prejudice  of  nurses,  the  reveries  of  enthusiasts, 
the  craft  of  priests,  and  the  tyranny  of  rulers — 
should  deem  religious  education  almost  superfluous, 
is  by  no  means  surprising.  However,  such  charac- 
ters would  slight  all  my  admonitions,  and  therefore 
it  is  in  vain  to  address  them.  Those  whose  attention 
I  would  solicit  are  decent  and  respectable  parents, 
who  wish  to  entertain  those  views  of  human  nature, 
and  of  the  duties  of  man,  which  the  holy  Scriptures 
exhibit.  That  such  persons  should  venture  to  hope 
that  their  children  will  perform,  in  subsequent  life, 
the  duties  they  owe  to  God  and  their  fellow-crea- 
tures, when  little  care  has  been  taken  to  prepare 
them  for  this  great  work,  is  perfectly  astonishing. 
Do  we  form  such  absurd  expectations  in  other 
things  ?  Does  any  man  suppose  that  his  son  will  be 
fit  for  any  profession,  or  business,  without  substan- 
tial and  persevering  instruction  ?  Does  he  venture 
to  send  him  out  into  the  world  as  a  lawyer,  a  sur- 
geon, or  a  tradesman,  without  a  long  preparation, 
expressly  calculated  to  qualify  him  for  the  line  of 
hfe  to  which  he  is  destined  ?  And  j^et  how  many 
fathers  expect  their  children  to  maintain  the  charac- 
ter of  Christians,  with  very  little  appropriate  educa- 
tion to  lead  them  to  conquer,  through  Divine  grace, 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION. 


19 


their  natural  alienation  from  God,  and  to  become 
new  creatures  under  Christ  their  Saviour!  God 
does  not  treat  man  in  this  manner,  but  furnishes 
him,  in  the  Scriptures,  with  the  most  august  and 
persuasive  teachers,  and  the  greatest  variety  of  in- 
struction and  exhortation,  calculated  to  turn  him 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  to  induce  him  to  crucify 
the  flesh  with  its  affections  and  lusts.  But  man, 
deaf  to  the  Divine  voice,  which  bays,  "  Go  and  do 
thou  likewise,"  and  deaf  also  to  the  call  even  of  pa- 
rental affection,  not  seldom  suffers  the  early  years 
of  his  offspring  to  pass  without  any  systematic  and 
adequate  plan  of  instruction  and  discipline  expressly 
calculated  for  the  attainment  of  those  great  ends. 

But  let  us  view  this  subject  a  httle  more  naiTowly. 
Is  a  son  intended  for  a  learned  profession  ?  He  is 
sent  to  school.  The  father  is  earnest  that  the  master 
should  ground  him  well  in  gi'ammar,  give  him  a 
taste  for  classical  literature,  and  call  forth  his  powers 
in  composition.  Afterwards,  when  the  youth  is  re- 
moved to  the  university,  a  college  and  tutor  are  se- 
lected with  anxious  care  to  promote  his  intellectual 
improvement.  An  earnest  sohcitude  is  felt  that  he 
should  become  a  sound  and  elegant  scholar;  and 
inquiring  friends  are  told  what  progress  he  makes 
m  his  literary  pursuits. — Again  :  suppose  that  a  more 
humble  walk  in  life  is  chosen  by  the  parent,  and  that 
his  boy  is  to  be  a  tradesman :  with  what  care  does 
he  select  a  master  who  perfectly  understands  his  bu- 
siness, and  will  be  likely  to  make  the  boy  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  it  ?  And  as  the  years  of  apprentice- 
ship draw  towards  their  close,  he  is  solicitous  that 


-20  A    PHACTICAL    VIEW 

his  son  should  be  instructed  in  all  the  higher  parts 
of  the  trade,  that  he  may  be  in  no  respect  deficient, 
when  he  becomes  his  own  master,  and  is  to  establish 
himself  in  life.     Let  any  one  who  allows  these  to  be 
just  pictures  of  parental  care  in  providing  for  the 
worldly  interests  of  children,  say  how  seldom  their 
spiritual  interests  are  the  object  of  equal  solicitude. 
Are  masters  chosen  with  the  same  care  for  the  pro- 
motion of  these  interests  ?    In  fixing  on  schools  and 
colleges  for  boys  destined  to  the  higher  professions, 
and  on  masters  and  counting-houses  for  those  who 
are  to  move  in  a  more  humble  line,  it  is  a  matter  of 
prime  consideration  to  select  those  which  are  known 
to  be  favorable  to  true  religion  ?    During  education, 
is  the  progress  of  the  boy  in  religion  watched  with 
unremitting  solicitude,  and  promoted  by  all  those 
measures  which  solicitude  suggests?     Are    pains 
anxiously  taken  to  remove  all  the  obstacles  in  the 
way?     And  finally,  is  the  boy    himself  removed 
(when  that  is  possible)  to  a  more  favorable  situation, 
if  those  obstacles  are  such  as  essentially  to  counter- 
act his  advancement  in  religious  attainments  ?    In 
most  cases,  I  fear,  even  where  better  things  might 
be  hoped,  these  questions  must  be  answered  in  the 
negative.    The  eflbrts  made  in  favor  of  the  religious 
improvement  of  youth  are  partial  and  unsystematic, 
and  generally  cold  and  languid.    But,  even  when 
accompanied  by  a  considerable  degree  of  earnest- 
ness, they  very  seldom  evince  a  care  and  thovight 
at  all  proportioned  to  the  greatness  of  the  object. 
An  attention  to  the  externals  of  religion  is  enforced, 
and  glaring  sins  are  forbidden  and  punished ;  and 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  21 

perhaps  also  the  leading  principles  of  the  Gospel  are 
occasionally  inculcated; — but  are  the  temper,  the 
taste,  and  the  habits  narrowly  watched?  Is  evil 
counteracted,  not  only  in  its  commencement,  but 
even  before  it  appears,  by  guarding  against  dispo- 
sitions and  practices  which,  though  not  wrong  in 
themselves,  are  dangerous  from  their  natural  al- 
liance with  those  which  are  so  ?  Are  the  dawnings 
of  good  early  descried  and  carefully  cherished  ?  And 
above  all,  is  the  youthful  mind  continually  taught 
to  raise  itself  to  the  only  source  of  safety  and 
strength ;  to  be  diligent  in  self  examination,  peni- 
tence, prayer,  and  praise  ?  I  fear  it  can  seldom  be 
said  that  a  plan  of  this  kind  is  followed  earnestly, 
assiduously,  and,  with  due  allowance  for  casual  in- 
terruptions, daily  from  youth  to  manhood.  And  yet 
earnestly,  assiduously,  and  daily  is  the  child  taught 
his  reading  and  spelling ;  the  school-boy  his  gram- 
mar and  classics ;  the  academician  his  Euclid,  Locke, 
and  Newton ;  and  the  clerk  or  apprentice  his  mas- 
ter's business.  Can  we  consult  our  experience  on 
these  points  without  exclaiming;  What  prudent 
care  in  human  things  !  What  negligence  in  divine  ! 
The  result  of  such  negligence  may  easily  be  antici- 
pated, and  is  lamentably  apparent  in  the  character 
and  habits  of  our  young  men. 

Is  this  negligence  to  be  accounted  for  from  any 
peculiar  facility  with  which  Christian  tiTiths  are  im- 
bibed, and  Christian  habits  formed  ?  Is  the  path  of 
true  religion  so  easily  discovered,  and  so  inviting, 
that  the  young  scarcely  want  a  monitor  to  point  it 
out  and  recommend  it  to  their  choice  ;  while  that  of 


22  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

human  sscience  is  thorny,  and  arduous,  and  disgust- 
ing, and  never  willingly  chosen  ?  Let  the  word  of 
God  and  human  experience  answer.  In  fact,  truth 
requires  that  this  picture  should  be  almost  reversed. 
Religion  is  that  which  is,  beyond  all  things,  repulsive 
to  the  nature  of  man ;  while  human  science  has 
many  charms  for  him,  and  meets  with  little  oppo- 
sition from  his  native  propensities.  In  inculcating 
religion  we  are  rolling  a  stone  up-hill,  which  must 
be  watched  every  moment,  or  it  will  soon  bound 
down  again ;  nor  can  we  hope  to  make  any  progress 
in  our  work  without  continued  and  painful  efforts. 

To  those  who  acknowledge  the  natural  propensity 
of  man  to  evil,  and  yet  take  so  little  pains  to  correct 
it  in  his  education,  I  cannot  refrain  from  addressing 
a  few  expostulations.  Do  you  act  in  a  similar  man- 
ner with  respect  to  any  corporeal  deformity  to  which 
your  children  may  be  subject?  Do  you  not  take 
the  best  medical  advice,  and  persevere,  perhaps  for 
many  years,  and  at  a  great  expense,  and  with  very 
serious  inconveniences  both  to  yourselves  and  your 
child,  in  the  use  of  such  means  as  may  be  recom- 
mended to  you  for  his  recovery  ?  And  yet  the  evil 
you  labor  to  correct  probably  affects  only  one  part 
of  his  frame ;  or  the  efforts  of  unassisted  nature  may 
remove  it ;  and  even  if  lie  should  carry  it  with  him 
to  his  grave,  it  may  not  be  fatal  to  liis  present  wel- 
fare, much  less  to  his  future  happiness.  But  the 
disease  to  which  his  soul  is  subject  is  universal,  per- 
vading all  its  faculties  and  dispositions.  Nature, 
instead  of  affording  a  remedy,  is  its  source,  and,  if 
not  counteracted,  will  infallibly  render  it  more  and 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  23 

more  desperate ;  and  the  evils  it  thi'ealens  are  of  in- 
finite magnitude,  and  of  eternal  dviration.  What, 
then,  can  you  think  of  your  negligence  ?  Are  you 
not  most  cruelly  deficient  in  your  care  of  your  off- 
spring? And  how  will  you  render  an  account  to 
that  Being  who  has  given  you  a  sacred  charge  to 
act  as  his  vicegerents  in  their  education  ? 

The  causes  of  those  lamentable  and  very  general 
defects  in  religious  education  which  have  been  no- 
ticed are  various.  At  present,  I  will  mention  only 
two  or  three  of  them. 

When  parents,  though  they  may  have  a  great 
respect  for  religion,  are  not  truly  religious,  there  is 
no  difficult}'-  in  accounting  for  their  lukewarmness  in 
providing  for  the  religious  education  of  their  children. 
If  they  do  not  consider  Christianity  as  the  pearl  of 
great  price ;  if  in  practice  they  make  it  rather  the 
handmaid  of  their  worldly  interest  and  pleasures, 
than  the  unrivalled  empress  of  their  hearts,  and  the 
sovereign  guide  of  their  actions  :  if  this  is  practically 
the  estimation  in  which  they  hold  it,  of  course,  they 
will  give  it  but  a  second,  a  third,  or  a  fourth  place 
among  the  objects  on  which  their  view  is  fixed  in  the 
education  of  their  children.  If,  in  then'  passage 
through  life,  they  do  not  in  fact  (whatever  they  may 
hold  in  theory)  sacrifice  their  own  profit,  or  pleasure, 
or  reputation,  at  the  shrine  of  Religion,  when  these 
cannot  be  secured  without  some  dereliction  of  duty, 
it  must  be  expected  that,  whatever  they  may  profess 
as  to  their  plans  of  education,  they  will  infactdXtend 
more  to  the  worldly  advancement,  or  pleasure,  or 
reputation  of  their  children,  than  to  their  progress 


24  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

in  vita]  Christianity.  As  such  parents,  however, 
frequently  lament  in  themselves  defects  which  they 
have  not  a  heart  to  remedy ;  let  tliem  be  asked  whether 
they  would  willingly  see  their  offspnng  in  the  same 
state  of  thraldom,  pursuing  a  course  which  they 
disapprove,  and  breathing  fruitless  wishes  after  that 
holiness  which  they  have  not  the  courage  to  prac- 
tise. If  their  minds  revolt  at  this  prospect,  let  them 
endeavor,  in  their  choice  of  masters  and  instructors, 
to  rescue  their  children  at  least  from  the  evils  which 
press  upon  themselves.  They  may  think  it  imprac- 
ticable in  their  own  case  (though  in  truth  if  they  un- 
dertook the  work  in  a  right  spirit,  they  would  con- 
quer every  difficulty  by  the  all-powerful  aid  of  Divine 
grace)  to  break  through  inveterate  habits,  and  to 
brave,  amidst  a  circle  of  acquaintance,  like  them- 
selves, the  books,  the  language,  the  demeaior,  to 
which  a  prompt  and  universal  obedience  to  the  calls 
of  duty  would  expose  them.  But  let  them  have  pity 
on  their  offspring;  and  put  them  in  a  course  which, 
with  God's  blessing,  may  preserve  them  from  the 
galling  fetters  which  bind  ther  parents. 

There  are  certain  classes  of  upright  Christians, 
(and  I  solicit  their  attention  with  far  better  hope,) 
whose  efforts  in  the  great  work  of  Clnistian  Educa- 
tion are  feeble,  from  causes  of  a  very  different  kind. 
Two  of  these  causes,  which  arise  immediately  out 
of  their  religious  principles,  I  will  now  mention. 

Some  parents,  of  a  truly  Christian  character,  are 
of  opinion,  that  although  the  instruction  of  the 
head  is  in  a  good  measure  left  to  man,  God  vindi- 
cates to  himself  in  a  peculiar  manner  the  empire  of 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  25 

the  heart,  and  carries  on  his  own  work  of  conver- 
sion in  his  own  way.  They  therefore  regard  human 
endeavors  to  lead  the  hearts  of  the  young  to  God  as 
(to  say  the  least)  of  very  doubtful  efficacy ;  and 
perhaps  look  with  some  jealousy  on  a  very  sedulous 
use  of  means,  for  the  attainment  of  this  object,  as 
indicative  of  a  disposition  to  depend  on  means,  rather 
than  on  the  power  and  mercy  of  God.  They  hope 
that  if  they  preserve  their  children  as  far  as  may  be, 
from  the  contamination  of  the  world,  make  them 
well  acquainted  with  the  Christian  doctrine,  and 
use  them  to  a  regular  attendance  on  religious  ordi- 
nances. He  will  hear  the  earnest  prayers  offered  up 
for  them,  and  in  His  good  time  work  on  their  affec- 
tions and  bring  them  to  Himself.  These  sentiments, 
in  which  there  is  a  specious  mixture  of  truth  and 
error,  are  accompanied  by  Christian  graces  and 
habits  which  have  a  powerful  tendency  to  counter- 
act their  practical  effects.  Parents  who  are  wanting 
in  sedulous  attention  to  their  children,  are  often  very 
strict  in  the  examination  of  themselves,  and  eminent 
for  tenderness  of  conscience,  for  hatred  of  sin,  for 
love  of  holiness,  and  for  adorning  the  Gospel  of  their 
Saviour,  by  presenting  in  themselves  no  dubious 
image  of  that  mind  which  shone  forth  in  him.  By 
an  attentive  observer,  however,  well  acquainted  with 
the  interior  of  their  families,  the  operation  of  the 
foregoing  opinions  will  not  unfrequently  be  distinctly 
traced :  and  in  whatever  degree  they  operate,  their 
tendency  must  be  to  weaken,  if  not  to  paralize,  pa- 
rental exertions.  The  hearts  and  the  habits  of  the 
rising  generation  will  not  be  watched  with  due  so- 


•26  A    PRACTICAL     VIEW 

licitude ;  and  evils  will  not  be  checked  and  antici- 
pated, nor  promising  appearances  cherished,  with 
that  wakeful  and  unremitting  anxiety  which  the 
incalculable  importance  of  education  demands.  Na- 
ture, with  its  corruptions,  will  be  allowed  to  gather 
strength ;  and  grace,  if  assisted  will  be  feebly  as- 
sisted, by  parental  co-operation,  (a  co-operation 
which  must  itself  also  be  altogether  the  fruit  of 
grace),  till  the  little  victims  of  this  false  system  con- 
tract a  most  pernicious  and  fatal  habit  of  hearing 
and  repeating  rehgious  truths  with  indifference,  and 
sometimes  perhaps  are  in  nearly  as  bad  a  state  as 
the  offspring  of  irreligious  parents. 

How  can  such  a  case  be  contemplated  without 
an  unusual  share  of  pity  ?  Of  pity  for  children  with 
bright  prospects  so  blasted ;  and  for  parents,  whose 
very  piety,  under  partial  and  therefore  mistaken 
views  of  Gospel-truth,  prepares  disappointment  and 
bitter  pangs  in  future  life,  if  not  eternal  ruin,  for 
those  whom  they  have  brought  into  being,  and 
whom,  under  a  better  system  of  education,  they 
might  have  found  their  glory,  and  joy,  and  crown  of 
rejoicing  in  the  great  day  of  the  Lord. 

That  the  parents  have  adopted  partial  and  erro- 
neous views  of  religious  truth,  who  can  doubt? 
God  Ls,  in  the  strictest  sense,  the  Giver  of  all  good, 
both  in  the  natural  and  in  the  spiritual  world ;  but 
in  both  he  employs  means  to  effect  his  objects ;  and 
the  well-directed  efforts  of  his  creatures  form  a  most 
important  branch  of  those  means.  Who  expects  to 
reap  if  he  will  not  sow,  or  to  read  if  he  will  not  learn 
his  alphabet?     Nor  is  the  connexion  between  the 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  27 

acquisition  of  spiritual  advantages  and  the  use  of 
means  less  intimate.  Thus,  though  Christ  is  our 
salvation,  yet  the  salvation  of  mankind  is  spoken  of 
in  Scripture  as  depending  on  the  exertions  of  the 
Apostles  and  their  followers.  They  are  called  the 
light  of  the  world.  When  it  is  declared,  that  they 
who  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  sliall  be  saved, 
immediately  afterwards,  for  the  special  purpose,  as 
it  should  seem,  of  pointing  out  the  absolute  necessity 
of  employing  means,  the  Apostle  proceeds  to  ask, 
"How  then  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they 
have  not  believed  ?  And  how  shall  they  believe  in 
hun  of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ?  And  how  shall 
they  hear  without  a  preacher  ?  And  how  shall  they 
preach  except  they  be  sent?"  (Rom.  x.  14,  15.)  And 
in  strict  conforaiity  with  this  view  of  things,  he  de- 
clares himself  willing,  in  his  own  ministerial  labors, 
to  spend  and  he  spent  for  the  benefit  of  others ;  and 
charges  his  spiritual  son  Timothy,  in  the  episcopal 
office  assigned  to  him,  to  he  instant  in  season  and  (by 
a  sort  of  hyperbole  of  speech,  arising  from  his  deep 
impression  of  the  unspeakable  importance  of  exer- 
tion,) out  of  season.  So  when  indolent  or  bad  teachers 
are  mentioned,  the  efficacy  of  means  is  no  less 
strongly  marked.  Under  the  Mosaic  dispensation, 
the  sins  of  the  people  are  continually  ascribed  to  the 
negligence  or  the  false  doctrine  of  the  priests.  Our 
Saviour  holds  similar  language  when,  speaking  of 
tlie  teaching  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  he  says, 
that  "  if  the  blind  lead  the  blind,  both  shall  fall  into 
the  ditch."  And,  under  the  Gospel,  the  effect  of  the 
errors  of  the  well-meaning  but  mistaken  builders  of 


28  A    PRACTICAT,    VIEW 

"  hay,  straw,  stubble,"  on  the  true  foundation,  Christ, 
is  pointedly  noticed.  It  is  declared,  that  such  teachers 
shall  suffer  loss ;  their  people  not  being  prepared  by 
tliem  to  abide  the  fiery  ordeal  by  which  every  teacher's 
work,  that  is,  the  flock  converted  by  him  to  Chris- 
tianity— was  to  be  tried.  (1  Cor.  iii.  11 — 15.)  So  fatal 
would  be  the  eflfect  of  the  wrong  measures  taken  by 
them  in  their  Christian  ministry ! — Not  to  multiply 
quotations,  I  will  close  what  I  have  to  advance  on 
this  head  with  pointing  out  some  few  parts  of  Scrip- 
ture respecting  the  very  case  before  us;   namely, 
the  instruction  of  children.     How  earnestly  does 
Moses  charge  the  Israelites  to  teach  the  law  to  their 
children,  as  they  rise  up  and  sit  down,  and  come  in  and 
go  out !    Could  he  have  more  strongly  characterized 
instant,  constant,  unremitting  instruction  ?  Solomon 
is  scarcely  less  pressing  in  his  exhortations  to  train  up 
a  child  in  the  way  in  which  he  should  go ;  and  he  is  most 
distinct  in  his  promise  of  a  blessing  and  success  to 
such  instruction.     When  the  Lord  appeared  as  an 
angel  to  Abraham,  he  plainly  intimated,  that  the  pa- 
triarch's exertions,  among  his  children  and  the  rising 
generation  in  his  household,  would  be  effectual  as 
means  of  securing  them  in  the  true  faith.  (Gen.  xviii. 
19.)     And  I  cannot  but  think  that  children  were  al- 
lowed to  partake  of  the  initiating  rites  of  circum- 
cision and  baptism,  at  so  early  an  age,  on  the  general 
presumption  that  the  appointed  means,  if  duly  em- 
ployed by  their  parents  and  sponsors,  would  secure, 
under  God's  blessing,  the  great  object  of  conversion 
to  God. 
If  this  view  of  the  scriptural  doctrine  respecting, 


OF    CHRISTIAN    LDUCATION.  99 

not  the  importance  only,  but  the  necessity  of^using 
means  zealously,  diligently,  unceasingly,  for  the  at- 
tainment of  spiritual  ends,  be  just;  what  shall  we 
say  of  those  parents  who  excuse  their  want  of  as- 
siduity and  vigor,  in  taking  proper  measures  to  im- 
press the  hearts,  as  well  as  to  inform  the  understand- 
ings, of  their  children,  on  the  plea  that  conversion 
is  God's  work,  and  that  the  times  and  the  seasons 
for  carrying  it  on  are  in  his  hand  ?  I  will  not  argue 
with  them,  but  leave  them  to  the  admonitory  voice 
of  their  own  conscience.  Wlien  we  look  forward  to 
the  advancement  of  religion  among  the  rising  gene- 
ration, there  are  no  promoters  of  that  great  work  on 
whom  we  fix  our  eyes  with  so  much  hope  as  on 
pious  parents.  Hew  deeply  then  must  we  lament 
that  there  should  be  found  among  them  such  princi- 
ples as  I  have  mentioned ;  which — operating  on  pa- 
rental partiality,  or  love  of  ease  or  other  dispositions 
unfavorable  to  watchfulness  and  vigor  in  conducting 
education — present  us,  in  a  spiritual  sense  at  least, 
with  "  ashes  and  mourning,"  in  families  where  we 
expected  "  beauty  and  the  oil  of  gladness !" 

But  the  foregoing  error  is  most  to  be  deplored 
when  joined  with  another,  also  arising  from  a  source 
which  challenges  our  respect  and  veneration ;  I 
mean,  the  hope  entertained  by  some  parents,  remiss 
in  the  spiritual  nurture  of  their  children,  that  the 
promised  blessing  to  the  offspring  of  pious  ancestors 
will  be  realised,  sooner  or  later,  in  their  conversion. 
On  the  influence  of  such  a  sentiment,  when  united 
with  that  which  was  last  under  consideration,  I  need 
not  dwell.    Every  one  must  see  that  when,  on  the 


30  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

one  hand,  a  low  opinion  is  entertained  by  parents  of 
the  efficacy  of  human  endeavors,  in  leading  their 
children  to  true  conversion  ;  and  on  the  other,  a  hope 
is  indulged  that  the  great  Shepherd  will,  at  some 
time  or  other,  gather  them  to  his  fold  ;  the  efforts  in 
education  will  be  altogether  destitute  of  watchful 
and  persevering  energy,  and  the  worst  effects  may  be 
expected.  Whether,  however,  this  latter  sentiment 
be  combined  with  the  former  or  not,  it  is  of  an  im- 
portance sufficient  to  claim  our  serious  attention. 
Let  us  then  examine  how  far  it  is  warranted  by 
Scripture  and  experience.  Those  who  hold  it,  rely 
on  the  numerous  passages  in  the  word  of  God,  in 
which  a  blessmg  is  promised  to  the  seed  of  his  true 
servants,  and  more  particularly  on  the  gi'acious 
declaration  in  the  Second  Commandment.  These 
Divine  promises  are  sources  of  great  comfort  to 
Christian  parents,  strenuously  exerting  themselves 
in  bringing  up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  ad- 
monition of  the  Lord.  What  numbers  have  been 
supported  by  them,  when  toiling,  apparently  without 
success,  in  the  discharge  of  their  parental  duties ! 
But  even  those  who  are  so  employed  may  expect 
more  than  the  promises  were  intended  to  convey. 
And  if  such  persons,  the  very  persons  for  whose 
benefit  the  promises  were  given,  may  look  forward 
for  the  conversion  and  final  salvation  of  their  chil- 
dren with  unwarranted  confidence ;  what  shall  we 
say  of  confidence,  what  shall  we  say  even  of  hope, 
in  those  who  are  ill  performing  the  duties  of  parents, 
and  who,  though  they  will  scarcely  allow  it,  make 
the  promises  themselves  the  ground  of  their  neglect  ? 


OF   CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  31 

How  far  a  misplaced  hope  of  this  kind  may  have 
contributed  to  tlie  lamentable  declension,  in  many- 
instances,  of  succeeding  generations  from  the  piety 
of  those  which  preceded  them,  cannot  be  determined : 
but  certain  it  is,  that  such  declensions  stain  the  page 
of  history  in  almost  all  times.  Look  at  the  succes- 
sors of  Joshua,  and  of  the  Elders  of  his  appoint- 
ment ;  at  the  sons  of  Samuel  and  of  Eli,  of  Jehosha- 
phat,  and  of  Josiah ;  at  the  descendants  from  the 
members  of  the  first  Christian  Churches,  as  well  as 
of  the  Churches  reformed  from  Popery ;  at  the  de- 
scendants from  the  pious  ministers  ejected  in  this 
country  at  the  time  of  the  Restoration,  and  from 
their  hearers:  in  short,  search  the  annals  of  the 
Jewish  or  Christian  church  in  almost  any  age,  and 
you  will  be  convinced  that  the  piety  of  ancestors  is 
very  far  indeed  from  being  a  security  to  their  off- 
spring. 

To  humble,  zealous,  well-directed,  and  persevering 
efforts,  in  the  work  of  Christian  Education,  God 
gives  a  signal  blessing :  but  those  who  will  not  em- 
ploy such  efforts,  have  no  ground  to  expect  any 
blessing.  They  may  rather  look  with  awful  appre- 
hension to  the  curses  every  where  denounced  in  the 
word  of  God,  against  those  who  have  mercies  placed 
within  their  reach,  but  will  not  accept  them  in  the 
appointed  way. 


32  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 


CHAP.    II. 

The  Period  from  early  Infancy  to  the  Learning  to  read- 
Faulty  Course  commonly  pursued — A  very  early  At- 
tention to  Tempers  and  Habits  recommended — Religion 
how  to  he  instilled — Parental  Example. 

The  years  which  precede  manhood  are  naturally 
divided  into  several  periods.  The  first  is,  from  early 
infancy  to  the  time  when  the  child  begins  to  read. 
The  next  is,  from  that  time  to  the  time  of  going 
(if  a  boy)  to  school  or  to  a  private  tutor ;  and,  if  a 
girl,  to  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve.  On  the  present 
occasion  my  remarks  will  be  confined  to  these  in- 
cipient but  highly  important  stages  in  education. 

The  period  of  infancy  is  generally  suffered  to  slide 
away  with  httle  or  no  attention  to  the  work  of  edu- 
cation. The  child  is  supposed  to  be  in  a  kind  of 
irrational  state,  which  will  scarcely  admit  of  moral 
discipline,  and  its  parents  seem  to  think  only  of  its 
health  and  amusement.  If  it  wants  any  thing,  its 
wish  must  be  gratified ;  if  it  cries,  it  is  to  be  quieted 
by  indulgence ;  or  if  this  cannot  be  effected,  attempts 
are  frequently  made  to  cheat  it  into  a  belief  that  the 
desired  object  has  suddenly  vanished.  If  it  has  been 
hurt,  the  immediate  cause  of  its  misfortune,  whether 
animate  or  inanimate,  is  not  seldom  to  be  beaten,  and 
the  child  itself  is  encouraged  to  join  in  inflicting  the 
punishment.     Things  proceed  in  this  way  nearly 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  33 

till  the  time  when  the  child  can  talk,  and  often  much 
longer ;  and  when  this  system  is  changed  for  another, 
still  it  gives  way  very  slowly,  and  in  many  cases 
some  remains  of  it  may  be  discerned  for  years  after 
the  child  is  allowed  to  be  capable  of  instruction. 
What  is  the  true  character  and  tendency  of  this 
course  of  proceeding?  It  unquestionably  fosters 
those  seeds  of  evil  which  abound  in  our  nature.  Is 
man  naturally  self-indulgent  ?  What  then  must  be 
the  effect  of  a  studied  system  of  indulgence  ?  Is  he 
impatient,  and  passionate,  and  vindictive?  How 
gi-eatly  must  these  dispositions  be  cherished,  by  not 
only  permitting  but  encouraging  their  gratification ! 
Is  he  disposed,  when  in  pursuit  of  favorite  objects,  to 
be  little  scrupulous  with  respect  to  violations  of  plain- 
dealing  and  truth  ?  The  artifices  to  which  nurses 
and  female  relations  resort  would  almost  create  such 
a  disposition,  were  it  not  originally  in  his  bosom. 
With  what  eyes,  then,  must  the  Almighty  look  upon 
such  a  course  of  proceeding !  It  would  be  trifling 
with  my  readers  to  pursue  this  topic  any  further. 

But  now  we  proceed  to  the  important  inquiry, 
What  system  of  management  ought  to  be  substituted 
in  the  place  of  that  which  has  been  described  ?  All 
persons  who  do  not  think  that  a  plea  of  necessity 
(a  very  unfounded  plea,  however,  in  the  present 
case)  may  be  urged  in  favor  of  the  practice  of  posi- 
tive evil,  must  allow  that  every  thing  should  be 
avoided  by  mothers  and  nurses  which  has  a  ten- 
dency to  cherish  and  bring  into  activity  that  de- 
praved nature,  which — if  there  be  any  truth  in  Scrip- 
ture, or  any  reliance  can  be  placed  on  experience — 


34  A   practicat,   VIKU 

we  all  bring  into  the  world.  They  will  grant  there- 
fore, that  Nanny,  or  the  cat,  or  the  chair,  are  not  to 
be  slapped  because  they  happen  to  have  displeased 
the  child.  But  must  not  we  confine  ourselves  to 
mere  abstinence  from  fostering  evils?  Is  it  not 
visionary  and  chimerical  to  attempt  to  check  bad 
tempers  and  habits,  and  to  lay  a  foundation  for  good 
oneo  ?  Or  if  an  attempt  of  this  kind  be  not  altoge- 
ther hopeless,  is  it  not  at  least  unnecessary  to  make 
it  at  so  early  a  period,  when  little  success  can  be 
expected ;  and  most  advisable  to  defer  it  till  the  rea- 
son of  the  child  is  further  advanced,  and  its  ability 
to  submit  to  discipline  is  greater  ?  My  experience 
gives  me  a  view  of  parental  duty  very  different  from 
that  to  which  these  questions  would  lead.  The  Al- 
mighty Creator  very  soon  begins  to  unfold  in  man 
those  intellectual  and  moral  faculties  which  are  des- 
tined, when  rightly  employed,  to  qualify  him  for  the 
highest  services  and  enjoyments  through  the  ages  of 
eternity.  In  a  few  weeks  after  its  birth,  the  child's 
reason  begins  to  dawn ;  and  with  the  first  dawn  of 
reason  ought  to  commence  the  moral  culture  which 
may  be  best  suited  to  counteract  the  evils  of  its 
nature,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  that  radical 
change,  that  new  birth  promised  in  baptism,*  and  the 

*  The  reader's  attention  is  called  to  this  passage,  that  he  may 
weigh  well  the  import  of  the  sentiment  which  it  contains.  The 
language  is  susceptible  of  two  meanings.  Does  the  author  in- 
tend to  say,  that  a  radical  change,  a  new  birth,  actually  takes  place 
in  baptism,  and  that  every  child,  at  the  very  time  of  administering 
this  ordinance,  receives  the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  is  created  anevi  in  Christ  Jesus?     Or,  which  more  pro- 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  85 

darling  object  of  the  hopes  of  every  parent  who 
looks  on  the  covenants  in  that  holy  rite,  not  as  forms 
but  as  realities.  Let  me  appeal  to  every  mother 
who  delights  to  view  her  infant  as  it  lies  in  her  lap, 
whether  it  does  not  soon  begin  to  read  "  the  human 
face  divine,"  to  recognise  her  smile,  and  to  shew 
itself  sensible  of  her  affection  in  the  little  arts  she 

bably  is  his  meaning,  does  he  intend,  that,  at  the  time  of  baptism, 
the  future  regeneration  of  the  child,  his  being  bom  of  the  Spirit, 
is  promised  to  such  parents  as  enter  into  this  covenant  with  that 
living  and  affectionate  faith  which  entitles  them  to  this  blessing  on 
their  offspring,  as  a  fulfilment  of  the  divine  engagement  ? 

The  former  opinion  has  no  sanction  from  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
and  is  at  variance  with  the  testimony  of  experience.  Where  has 
God  promised,  that  He  will  invariably,  or  that  He  will  ever,  grant 
the  renewing  and  sanctifying  influences  of  His  Holy  Spirit  to  the 
baptized  infant,  at  the  very  time  of  performing  this  rite.  The 
general  law  in  His  kingdom  of  grace,  as  well  as  of  nature,  is,  that 
He  acts  through  the  instrumentality  of  means.  Li  the  case  of 
adults,  we  are  expressly  taught,  that  of  His  own  will,  they  are  begotten 
by  the  word  of  truth  ;  that  their  faith  comes  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by 
the  word  of  God  ;  and  that  they  are  sanctified  through  the  truth,  the 
truth  of  the  word  of  God.  Divine  truth  is  the  instrument  which  the 
Spirit  of  God  uses  in  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the  renovation 
of  their  hearts.  This  is  the  general  law.  We  have  no  right  to. 
consider  the  case  of  infants  dedicated  to  God  in  baptism,  as  fur- 
nishing an  exception  to  it,  without  His  express  declaration  to  that 
effect. 

Besides,  if  every  baptized  infant  is  born  again  and  created  anew 
in  Christ  Jesus,  how  happens  it,  that  there  are  so  many  lamentable 
instances,  in  which  the  child,  as  its  intellectual  and  moral  character 
is  developed,  gives  not  the  least  evidence  of  piety,  and  lives  and  dies 
without  a  shadow  of  such  evidence  ?  Can  such  a  mighty,  such  a 
radical  change  take  place  without  any  perceptible  effect  upon 
the  heart  and  the  conduct  ? 


36  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

employs  to  entertain  it.  Does  it  not,  in  no  long 
time,  return  that  smile,  and  repay  her  maternal  ca- 
resses with  looks  and  motions  so  expressive  that  she 
cannot  mistake  their  import  ?  She  will  not  doubt, 
then,  the  importance  of  fostering  in  its  bosom  those 
benevolent  sympathies  which  delight  her,  by  banish- 
ing from  her  nursery  whatever  is  likely  to  counter- 
act them.  She  will  not  tolerate  in  a  nurse  that  selfish 
indifference  to  the  wants  of  an  infant,  which  some- 
times leaves  it  to  cry  while  she  finishes  her  breakfast 


With  regard  to  the  other  opinion,  that,  in  baptism,  the  future 
regeneration  of  the  child  by  the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Spirit, 
is  promised  to  the  believing  parent,  it  is  a  question  of  very  serious 
import,  and  of  difficult  decision.  Are  there  any  express  promises 
in  Scripture  to  that  effect?  Is  there  any  thing  in  the  nature  of 
the  ordinance  which  implies  this  pledge  on  the  part  of  God  ?  How 
far  can  the  parent  feel  assured,  that  his  child  will  undoubtedly 
receive  this  blessing,  unless  he  also  feels  assured,  that  he  himself 
will  continue  faithfully  and  constantly  to  use  all  the  appointed 
means  of  grace,  in  the  future  education  of  the  child,  in  bringing 
it  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord  ?  Nay,  how  far 
can  he  feel  assured,  that  God  gives  this  pledge,  unless  the  church 
of  Christ,  also,  of  which  he  is  a  member,  and  into  which  he 
wishes  to  introduce  his  child,  shall  fulfil  its  part  of  the  engage- 
ments, in  watching  over  the  lambs  of  the  flock  ?  These  inquiries 
are  serious  and  affecting.  And  let  every  reader  who  wishes  to 
arrive  to  a  satisfactory  result,  in  deciding  the  important  ques- 
tion referred  to  in  this  note,  consider  well  the  solemn  obliga- 
tions which  rest  upon  Christian  parents,  and  upon  the  Christian 
church,  with  regard  to  baptized  children,  and  the  extent  to  which 
these  obligations  are  fulfilled,  before  he  too  hastily  concludes, 
that  the  dedication  of  his  offspring  to  God  in  baptism,  however 
sincerely  and  faithfully  it  may  be  performed,  will  of  itself  insure 
the  renovation  of  their  hearts  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATIOX.  87 

or  chats  with  a  companion.  Much  less  will  she 
tolerate  passionate  snatches  and  scolding  names,  and 
hard  and  impatient  tones  of  voice,  in  the  manage- 
ment of  her  child.  I  may  be  pronounced  fanciful ; 
but  I  certainly  think  it  would  be  of  importance  to 
keep  sour  and  ill-humored  faces  out  of  a  nursery, 
even  though  such  faces  were  not  commonly  accom- 
panied by  corresponding  conduct.  I  am  persuaded 
that  I  have  seen  a  very  bad  effect  produced  by  a  face 
of  this  kind  on  the  countenance  and  mind  of  an 
infant.  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  if  an 
infant  sympathises  with  a  smile,  it  may  also  sympa- 
thise with  a  scowl,  and  catch  somewhat  of  the  in- 
ward disposition  which  distorts  the  features  of  the 
nurse  ?  Thus  begin  the  efforts  of  a  parent  to  cherish 
all  that  is  benevolent  and  affectionate  in  the  bosom 
of  a  child ;  and  to  prevent  the  growth  of  every  thing 
of  an  opposite  nature.  And  who  shall  presume  to 
assign  limits  to  the  importance  of  such  efforts  in  the 
education  of  a  being  whose  leading  disposition,  if  it 
fulfil  the  will  of  its  Maker,  must,  both  through  Ufe  and 
through  all  eternity,  be  love  ? 

But  parental  cares  soon  extend.  In  a  short  tune, 
impatience  and  selfishness  show  themselves  in  a 
child,  and  are  accompanied  by  fretfulness,  jealousy, 
anger,  and  envy.  At  so  early  a  period  does  innate 
corruption  display  its  powers,  and  call  for  the  re- 
straining hand  of  a  parent!  But  how  are  these 
evils  to  be  counteracted  at  an  age  when  both  the 
body  and  mind  are  so  tender,  and  when  neither  ar- 
guments nor  explanations  can  be  understood  ?  Un- 
doubtedly great  delicacy  of  treatment  is  required 


38  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

The  character  of  the  child  must  be  studied  ;  and,  if 
possible,  such  correctives  must  be  applied,  as  will 
not  deeply  wound  its  feelings.  It  is  surprising  what 
female  ingenuity,  quickened  by  maternal  tenderness, 
will  achieve  in  this  way.  Does  a  child,  too  young 
to  listen  to  reason,  want  something  it  ought  not  to 
have  ?  Its  mother  will  suddenly  turn  its  attention  to 
another  object,  and  thus  prevent  the  rise  of  improper 
tempers,  or  arrest  them  in  their  course.  Is  it  jealous 
of  the  attention  paid  to  a  brother  ?  While  she  per- 
severes, perhaps,  in  showing  to  the  brother  the  kind- 
ness which  has  raised  this  jealousy,  she  will  pour 
such  a  stream  of  affection  on  both  the  children  as 
shall  at  once  show  them  how  much  each  is  the  ob- 
ject of  her  love,  and  lead  them  by  sympathy  to  feel 
a  similar  love  for  each  other.  This  will  be  the  best 
antidote  to  jealousy.  But  cases  will  arise,  in  which, 
with  all  her  ingenuity,  she  will  not  be  able  to  effect 
her  purpose  in  this  way.  On  such  occasions  if  the 
child  is  too  young  to  understand  reason  and  persua- 
sion, she  will  as  far  as  possible,  shorten  and  sweeten 
its  trial,  but  without  fostering  bad  dispositions  in  its 
bosom ;  if  it  is  a  little  older,  she  will  endeavor  to 
turn  the  trial  to  good  account,  by  holding  up  to  it 
such  Christian  and  filial  motives  as  suit  its  capacity 
and  character.  These  will  be  accompanied  by  such 
a  description  and  exemplification,  on  the  one  hand, 
of  the  effects  they  ought  to  produce,  and  of  the  sun- 
shine of  soul  to  which  they  lead ;  and  on  the  other, 
of  the  hatefulness  of  the  fault  in  question,  of  the 
unhappiness  which  must  attend  the  commission  of 
it,  and  of  the  regret  and  bad  consequences  which 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  99 

must  follow  ;  as  may,  by  God's  help,  prepare  its  ten- 
der mind  for  spiritual  discrimination,  and  a  spiritual 
taste,  (if  I  may  so  speak,)  and  give  its  infant  affec- 
tions some  bias  on  the  side  of  God  and  duty. 

But  how,  some  parents  may  ask,  how  can  this  be 
effected  at  so  tender  an  age  ?  It  seems  to  us  impos- 
sible. Believe  me,  much  may  be  done,  with  very 
young  children,  by  placing  gradually  before  them, 
with  cheerfulness  and  affection,  and  in  a  spirit  suited 
to  the  occasion,  religious  truths,  associated  as  much 
as  may  be  with  images  pleasing  to  their  minds.  The 
appellations,  God  and  Jesus,  should  soon  be  made 
familiar  to  them ;  and  the  dwelling-place  of  these 
Divine  Persons  may  be  so  pointed  out  and  described ; 
and  their  power  and  their  holiness,  and  more  espe- 
cially their  love,  may  be  so  set  forth  and  brought 
home  to  the  feelings,  by  little  and  simple  illustrations, 
that,  while  the  tender  mind  is  unbued  with  the  first 
rudiments  of  religious  knowledge,  reverence,  and 
affection  for  Divine  things,  if  God  smile  on  the  en- 
deavor, shall  be  excited  in  the  heart.  But  special 
care  must  be  taken  not  to  give  fatiguing  lectures, 
nor  to  make  too  powerful  calls  on  tJie  feelings. 
"  Here  a  httle  and  there  a  little,"  must  be  the  parent's 
motto  in  conveying  instruction  at  this  age ;  and  for 
that  little,  the  seasons  must  be  chosen  when  the  child 
is  most  likely  to  lend  a  willing  ear :  and  the  subject 
must  always  be  dropped  before  it  becomes  tiresome, 
unless  there  be  some  very  pressing  call  for  its  being 
continued ;  in  which  case,  indeed,  the  occasion  itself 
will  generally  make  it  interesting.  Very  short  and 
simple  stories  from  Holy  Writ  may  be  employed 


40  A    PRAfTirAL    VIEW 

with  great  advantage ;  as  tliat  of  Jesus  taking  the 
little  children  in  his  arms  and  blessing  them ;  that 
of  his  restoring  the  widow's  son  to  life ;  and  many 
others.  If  these  are  told  in  a  cheerful  manner,  and 
with  such  little  appropriate  touches  as  will  present 
the  scene  to  the  imagination  of  the  child,  they  will 
seldom  fail  to  delight  it,  and  will  be  called  for  again 
and  again.  When  they  are  fixed  in  its  memory,  it 
is  evident  with  what  great  advantage  reference  may 
be  made  to  them  when  the  parent  finds  occasion  to 
have  recource  to  dissuasion,  or  reproof,  or  exhor- 
tation. 

In  conveying  instruction,  it  is  a  most  important 
point  for  the  parent  always  to  bear  in  mind,  that 
far  more  may  be  done  by  exciting  the  sympathy  of 
the  child  than  by  appealing  to  its  reason.  Things 
indeed  should  always  be  presented  to  it  in  the  garb 
of  truth  and  good  sense :  but  unless  its  feelings  are 
in  unison  with  its  convictions,  it  may  be  perfectly 
persuaded  of  truths  without  being  influenced  by 
them  in  practice.  And  how  are  the  appropriate 
feelings  to  be  excited  in  its  bosom  ?  Chiefly  by  the 
feelings  of  the  parent  being  in  unison  with  the  sub- 
ject on  which  he  speaks.  Is  he  dwelling  on  the 
greatness  of  God,  or  on  his  all-seeing  eye,  or  on  his 
eternity,  or  on  his  glory  ?  Let  his  own  heart  har- 
monise with  his  lofty  theme,  and  probably  the  right 
string  in  that  of  his  child  will  vibrate.  Is  he  describ- 
ing the  Divine  love,  and  tenderness,  and  mercy,  es- 
pecially as  exemplified  in  Jesus  Christ  ?  If  his  own 
feelings  are  impressed  by  the  picture  he  presents, 
those  of  his  child  are  not  likely  to  be  altogether  ua- 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  41 

moved.  But  reverse  the  case  as  to  the  parent,  and 
what  is  to  be  expected  from  the  child  ?  Who  can  be 
so  absurd  as  to  hope,  that  when  religious  truths  are 
taught  as  a  schoolmaster  teaches  the  grammar, 
good  impressions  will  be  made  on  the  heart  ?  Do 
we  see,  in  fact,  that  when  the  Catechism  is  so  taught, 
any  such  impression  is  made  ?  Step  into  a  village- 
school  where  that  excellent  compendium  of  our  holy 
religion  has  been  learnt  merely  as  a  task,  and  you 
will  find  the  childi'en  as  little  affected  by  its  truths 
(even  if  they  understand  it)  as  they  are  by  the 
lessons  in  their  spelling-book.  One  would  abnost 
think  that  they  conceived  it  pointed  out  the  high 
privileges  and  the  sacred  duties  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  moon,  and  that  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  it 
but  to  get  it  by  heart.  Few,  if  any,  parents,  it  is 
hoped,  who  make  religion  a  branch  of  education, 
proceed  in  a  way  so  utterly  irrational  as  the  gener- 
ality of  village-schooknasters  in  teaching  the  Cate- 
chism ;  but  in  whatever  degree  the  approach  to  the 
village-scliool  sy^3tem,  in  that  degree  must  they  look 
for  a  similar  result.     If 

"  Si  vis  me  flere,  dolendum  est 
Priraura  ipsi  tibi,"* 

be  a  just  description  of  human  nature,  when  applied 
to  adults,  it  is  doubly  and  trebly  so  in  the  case  of 
childi'en.    Adults  have  been  used  to  attach  certain 


*  If  you  would  have  me  weep,  you  must  first  be  affected  with 
grief  yourself 

K  2, 


4^2  A    PRACTirAT-    VIEW 

feelings  to  certain  truths  and  certain  incidents,  the 
recurrence  of  which  will  do  much  towards  exciting 
those  feelings;  but  children  have  not  yet  learnt, 
(except  in  some  obvious  instances,)  how  the  circum- 
stances of  life  will  influence  their  own  welfare,  and 
the  welfare  of  others ;  and  therefore  it  is  no  wonder 
that  their  feelings  should  not  be  excited,  until  they 
see  how  others  feel.  The  great  Creator  has  ordained, 
that  in  early  childhood  all  the  powers  and  faculties 
of  man  shall  be  placed  under  the  guidance,  and  in  a 
very  great  degi'ee  under  the  forming  hand  of  his 
parents.  His  feelings  are  as  ready  as  his  intellectual 
powers  to  take  the  impression  that  may  be  given 
them.  How  strong  are  the  prejudices  imbibed  from 
parents  in  early  youth!  When  pains  are  taken 
to  produce  a  similarity,  how  clearly  do  we  see  the 
prominent  features  in  the  manners,  habits,  and  feel- 
ings of  parents  reflected  in  their  offspring !  A  little 
Gipsey  is  an  adult  Gipsey  in  miniature.  I  am  told 
that  among  the  Gentoos  a  like  similarity  is  very  ap- 
parent ;  and  I  have  myself  been  struck  by  it  among 
the  Quakers — a  sect  whom  I  by  no  means  mention 
to  dishonor.  Why  may  not  the  potent  engine  which 
produces  such  striking  effects  among  these  and  other 
classes  of  men,  and  often  promotes  feelings  and 
habits  adverse  to  good  sense  and  propriety,  to  good 
order  or  to  true  religion,  be  employed  in  favor  of  the 
best  interests  of  man  and  the  glory  of  God  ?  To 
suffer  it  to  lie  idle,  is  folly  and  sin.  But  in  fact  it 
will  not  be  absolutely  idle.  One  thing  or  another 
children  will  always  be  catching  from  their  parents ; 
and,  through  the  corrupt   bias  of  human  nature. 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATIOX-  4S 

they  will  be  far  more  ready  to  catch  the  evil  than 
the  good  :  and  even  in  copying  what  is  innocent,  if 
not  positively  good,  in  parents,  they  will  be  very  apt 
to  give  it  some  turn,  or  associate  it  with  some  qua- 
lity, which  may  make  it  subservient  to  evil.  What 
then  is  likely  to  be  the  effect  of  negligence  in  this 
great  point  ?  In  truth,  can  we  look  around  vis,  and 
not  have  lamentable  proofs  of  its  effect  ?  How  many 
children  of  good  parents  do  we  see  imitating  little, 
in  parental  example,  but  neglect  of  duty !  In  the 
parent,  this  neglect  has  been  chiefly  visible  perhaps 
in  education ;  but  the  child,  as  might  be  expected, 
extends  it  much  farther.  Or,  suppose  the  parent  to 
be  led  by  a  blind  fondness  to  humor  his  child,  to 
overlook  his  faults,  and  to  allow  himself  to  omit  the 
present  duty  of  restraining  and  ruling  him,  under 
some  vague  hope  that  a  more  favorable  time  will 
arrive  for  the  exercise  of  his  power,  or  that  God  will 
in  his  own  time,  by  his  own  providence,  and  by  the 
teaching  of  his  own  Spirit,  correct  the  faults  which 
the  father  tolerates.  Shall  we  not  be  extremely 
likely  to  find  that  a  child  so  educated  will  chiefly 
resemble  his  parent  in  giving  way  to  self-delusion 
and  self-indulgence,  and  in  indistinct  and  unscrip- 
tural  reliance  on  future  gifts  of  Providence,  to  the 
neglect  of  present  duties?  But  it  is  not  only  by 
copying  his  faults  that  a  child  derives  evil  from  a 
parent ;  if  care  be  not  taken,  quaUties  and  habits 
innocent,  or  even  commendable,  will  be  so  caught  or 
so  imitated  by  the  child  as  to  administer  to  the  gra- 
tification of  his  evil  passions. — Is  the  parent  ener- 


44  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

getic  ?  Let  him  guard  against  his'  child's  adopting 
Iiis  energy  as  an  engine  of  pride  or  ambition. — Is  he 
jocose  ?  His  playful  humor  may  be  imitated  by  the 
child,  for  the  purpose  of  putting  aside  serious  thought 
or  vigorous  application  ;  or  of  indulging  in  ridicule 
or  satire  ;  or  of  practising  tricks  not  consistent  with 
simplicity  and  sincerity  of  character,  and  employed 
probably  for  selfish  purposes.  Nay,  unless  care  be 
taken,  Piety  itself  in  a  parent,  that  child  of  Heaven, 
may  lead  to  fanaticism,  or  cant,  or  hypocrisy  in  a 
child.  Certain  tones  and  gestures,  which  (though, 
as  I  think,  to  be  avoided)  are  in  the  parent  the  ac- 
companiment of  true  communion  with  his  Maker, 
often  become  quite  pitiable  or  disgusting  in  the 
child,  not  being  connected  with  those  deep  devo- 
tional feelings  which  can  alone  make  them  tolera- 
ble ;  or,  if  so  connected,  being  utterly  unsuited  to 
his  age. 

This  subject  may  be  pursued  farther  ;  but  enough 
has  been  said  to  excite  the  reflections  of  well-mean- 
ing parents;  and  those  reflections  will  naturally 
point  to  the  particular  circumstances  of  each  indi- 
vidual, and  be  far  more  useful  than  any  thing  I 
could  add.  No  one  can  doubt  the  deep  responsibility 
of  every  parent  to  make  a  good  use  of  his  power 
over  the  dispositions  and  aflfections  of  his  offspring. 
And  since  in  exercising  that  power,  nothing  will  be 
so  operative  as  his  own  example,  how  earnest  should 
he  be,  that  the  light  which  shines  in  him  may  be  the 
true  light  of  the  Gospel,  purified  as  much  as  may  be 
from  every  thing  that  may  obscure  or  defile  it! 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATrOIf.  45 

And  also  how  earnest  should  he  be  to  join  to  such 
an  example  a  sagacious  watchfulness,  and  even  a 
holy  jealousy,  to  prevent  his  child  from  misunder- 
standing it,  or  the  principles  and  motives  from  which 
it  springs ;  and  to  prevent  a  perverse  or  deceptious 
use  being  made  of  it ! 


46  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 


CHAP.   III. 

General  Observations — Parents  to  guard  against  their 
Faults  in  the  Presence  of  their  Children — Children  not 
to  be  made  Playthings — The  Child'' s  Good  and  not  the 
Parent's  Ease,  to  be  the  Object — The  Heart  to  be  had 
in  View  rather  than  the  Outward  Act — Guard  against 
a  Child's  Artifices — Study  Consistency  of  System — 
Intercourse  with  your  Children — Freedom  of  Conver- 
sation —  Study  of  Character — Personal  Exertion  in 
Education. 

I  SHALL  proceed  to  offer  to  parents  some  general  re- 
commendations, which  may  guard  them  against 
evils  not  uncommon  in  families,  and  may  shorten 
my  remarks  on  many  of  the  details  of  education  in 
subsequent  parts  of  this  essay. 

1.  Let  a  parent  be  particularly  on  his  guard 
against  his  faults  and  weaknesses  when  in  the  bosom 
of  his  family. 

The  reverse  is  not  seldom  the  case.  The  circum- 
spection and  restraint  practised  abroad,  are  often 
greatly  relaxed  at  home.  Here  liberties  and  self-in- 
indulgences  are  thought  more  allowable;  wrong 
tempers  are  not  instantly  repressed  in  the  bosom,  and 
are  suffered  to  deform  tlie  countenance,  and  also 
sometimes  to  break  out  in  unchristian  tones,  ex- 
pressions, and  conduct.  We  must  all  have  observed 
this  in  others ;  and  few  of  us,  I  conceive,  are  uncon- 
scious of  having  been  sometimes  taken  by  surprise 
on  the  entrance  of  a  friend,  and  of  having  felt  that 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  47 

it  was  necessary  to  recall  both  the  mind  and  the 
face  to  greater  serenity  and  benignity,  in  order  to 
receive  him  properly.  Now,  can  we  seriously  think 
that  a  heart  and  a  countenance  unfit  for  our  friend, 
was  fit  for  our  children,  who  surrounded  us  before 
his  amval  ?  Can  we  estimate  the  mischief  which 
such  moral  deformity,  placed  before  their  eyes  in  the 
person  of  their  father,  may  produce !  Some  one 
says,  that  no  man  is  a  hero  before  his  valet-de-cham- 
bre.  I  will  not  stop  to  inquire  what  is  becoming  in  a 
hero;  but  a  Christian  certainly  ought,  if  possible,  to 
be  more  a  Christian  before  his  family,  where  his  in- 
fluence is  greatest,  and  the  effects  of  his  example  the 
most  important,  than  in  any  other  situation.  Juve- 
nal has  said,  "  Maxima  debetur  pueris  reverentia  ;"* 
though  his  view  of  education  was  only  to  prepare 
youth  for  an  upright  and  able  discharge  of  their 
common  duties  in  this  life,  with  little  regard  to  God 
or  eternity.  How  deep  then  ought  this  maxim  to 
sink  into  the  heart  of  a  Christian,  whose  views  are 
so  much  higher,  and  who  is  to  educate  beings  called 
to  perform  all  their  duties  as  those  who  now  sit  in 
heavenly  places,  and  are  kings  and  priests  unto 
God! 

2.  Never  make  mere  playthings  of  your  children. 

Many  fathers  treat  their  little  ones  as  if  nothing 
was  to  be  sought  in  their  society  but  mutual  amuse- 
ment. All  is  good  humor  when  they  are  together ; 
and  therefore  all  is  supposed  to  be  right,  though 
there  be  little  besides  folly  and  self-indulgence  on 

*  The  most  circumspect  deportment  should  be  maintained  in 
the  presence  of  children. 


48  A     PRACTICAI      VIEAV 

one  side,  and  improper  liberties,  caprice,  self-will,  or 
artifice,  on  the  other.  In  short,  there  seems  to  be  a 
sort  of  conspiracy  between  the  parties  to  indulge 
the  natural  man.  The  child  is  often  even  taught  to 
be  indecorous,  and  mischievous,  and  saucy,  for  the 
amusement  of  its  parent.  What  excuse  can  be 
made  for  such  a  scene  ?  The  poor  child  is  greatly 
to  be  pitied :  but  really  the  parent,  if  we  were  to 
look  no  further,  would  appear  to  be  a  sort  of  mon- 
ster, devoid  of  principle,  of  feeling,  and  of  common 
sense.  Follow  him,  however,  to  his  serious  occupa- 
pations,  and  you  may  find  him  a  useful  and  respec- 
table man.  What  a  shame,  that  he  is  insensible  to 
the  high  destiny  and  unspeakable  value  of  the  little 
creature  whom  he  is  spoiling  for  the  sake  of  half  an 
hour's  fooling  trifling !  What  would  he  say  of  any 
one  who  threw  about  his  gold  repeater  as  if  it  were 
a  ball,  or  sported  with  his  wife's  jewels  as  if  they 
were  marbles  ?  And  yet  his  own  folly  is  infinitely 
greater.  The  creatures  whom  he  is  placing  in  such 
danger  for  his  sport  are  infinitely  more  precious 
than  gold,  which  perisheth;  and  pearls  and  dia- 
monds are  worthless  compared  with  them.  One 
would  think  that  mere  selfishness  might  restrain 
such  absurdity  even  in  a  man  who  did  not  extend 
his  view  beyond  this  world.  The  time  may  come, 
when  the  evil  fostered  in  the  child  will  be  a  scourge 
to  the  parent,  and  when  his  sufferings  will  excite  the 
less  compassion  in  others,  from  their  recollection  that 
these  scenes  of  egregious  folly  had  undermined  that 
natural  respect  which  would  otherwise  have  been  a 
check  to  ill  conduct  on  the  part  of  his  child.     May 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATiOX.  49 

parents,  then,  never  relax  with  their  children  ?  Must 
they  always  sustain  the  grave  character  of  a  tutor  ? 
Most  certainly  they  may,  and  ought,  frequently  to 
relax  with  them,  and  even  to  take  pains  to  make 
them  happy  by  joining  in  their  little  amusements  : 
but  they  may  combine  this  course  of  proceeding 
extremely  well  with  a  constant  recollection  of  the 
immortal  nature  and  high  value  of  their  children, 
for  whom  Christ  died,  and  with  a  suitable  behaviour 
towards  them.  A  father  will  soon  learn,  in  such 
playful  moments,  "  miscere  utile  dulci ;"  or,  accord- 
ing to  our  English  proverb,  to  "  be  merry  and  wise ;" 
and  he  will  rank  such  seasons  among  those  which 
are  most  important  for  checking  what  is  wrong  in  a 
child,  fostering  what  is  right,  instilling  good  princi- 
ples, infusing  a  just  appreciation  of  things,  and  a 
taste  for  what  is  lovely  and  of  good  report.  All  the 
good  seed  sown  on  such  occasions  will  be  so  com- 
bined with  the  child's  pleasures  and  affections,  as, 
with  God's  blessing,  to  take  deep  root  in  the  soul, 
and  promise  a  vigorous  and  permanent  growth. 

3.  In  managing  a  child,  let  a  parent  always  have 
the  child's  good,  rather  than  his  own  ease,  in 
view. 

In  domestic  education,  when  parents  speak  to 
their  children,  in  a  tone  of  dissatisfaction,  what  is 
heard  so  frequently  as,  "  Don't  be  so  troublesome !" 
It  is  true,  children  ought  not  to  be  suffered  to  be 
troublesome,  since  both  kindness  and  propriety  for- 
bid them  to  be  so :  but  the  tone  of  the  complaint 
generally  shows  very  clearly  that  the  great  grie- 
vance is,  not  that  the  child  has  those  dispositions 


50  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

which  make  it  troublesome,  but  that  others,  and  par- 
ticularly the  complainant,  are  troubled.  Thus  the 
child  soon  discovers,  that  it  is  corrected  rather  for 
the  ease  of  its  parents  and  attendants,  than  for  its 
own  good ;  and  it  has  before  it  an  example  and  a 
lesson  of  selfishness,  which  may  do  it  as  much  harm 
as  it  receives  benefit  from  the  check  given  to  a  bad 
habit. — What  ought  to  be  done  on  such  occasions  ^ 
Undoubtedly  the  troublesome  practice  should  be 
prevented ;  but  this  should  be  done  in  such  a  way 
as  to  show  the  child  that  the  parent  would  willingly 
submit  to  trouble,  to  promote  its  good  ;  but  that 
such  dispositions  as  lead  it  to  trouble  others,  are  un- 
holy, and  must  be  eradicated.  The  pleasure  a 
Christian  will  have  in  giving  pleasure,  and  his  pain 
in  occasioning  pain,  must  be  pointed  out,  and  proved 
and  illustrated.  As  nothing  is  to  be  combated  in 
children  with  more  care  and  perseverance  than  sel- 
fishness, so  nothing  is  to  be  more  strictly  guarded 
against  in  parental  example.  The  child  is  to  be 
taught  to  make  sacrifices  cheerfully,  and  to  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross ;  and  the  parent  must 
be  especially  careful  that  his  own  example  forward 
the  learning  of  this  difficult  lesson.  On  occasions  in 
which  the  admonition  is,  "  Don't  be  troublesome," 
would  not  "  Don't  be  thoughtless,"  "  don't  be  vio- 
lent," or,  "  don't  be  unkind,"  often  be  more  appro- 
priate ?  Is  it  expedient  very  generally  to  use  a  mode 
of  expression  which  points  to  the  effect  rather  than 
the  cause  of  a  child's  conduct, — to  the  inconve- 
niences brought  on  others,  rather  than  to  the  state 
of  his  mind  ? 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  51 

4.  In  correcting  a  fault,  look  to  the  heart  rather 
than  to  the  outward  act. 

How  common  is  it  for  parents  to  pursue  the  op- 
posite course !  They  are  satisfied  with  condemning 
and  preventing  wrong  conduct,  without  much  at- 
tending to  the  temper  of  mind  in  which  their  ani- 
madversions are  received  ;  and  the  child  is  often  left 
unhumbled  and  discontented,  and  in  a  state  as  dis- 
pleasing to  God  as  when  it  was  committing  the  fault 
in  question.  This  mode  of  proceeding  appears  to 
me  essentially  wrong,  and  productive  of  serious 
evil.  It  does  not  bring  the  child  to  repentance  before 
God,  and  to  peace  with  him.  It  directs  its  view  to 
the  maintenance  of  decency  in  externals,  rather 
than  to  a  jealous  scrutiny  of  its  motives  and  dis- 
positions, and  an  earnest  desire  of  reconciliation 
with  its  God,  after  having  offended  him.  Though 
these  marks  of  time  repentance  cannot  be  expected 
at  so  early  an  age  in  their  full  extent,  yet  a  broad 
foundation  for  them  is  often  laid  during  the  two  or 
three  first  years  of  infancy.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  we  see  a  child  scowl,  or  snatch  up  his  shoul- 
ders, or  pout  and  redden,  on  being  blamed,  can  the 
rebellious  and  unbending  spirit  within  be  doubted  ? 
Is  he  humbled  for  his  fault,  and  in  a  spirit  to  forsake 
it  and  seek  forgiveness  ?  Is  there  any  putting  off  of 
the  old  man,  and  putting  on  of  the  new  man  ?  And 
yet,  can  it  be  denied,  that  this  is  the  only  temper  to 
which  the  promise  of  pardon  is  made  ?  It  is  the 
temper  in  which  adults  must  come  to  Christ  for  par- 
don and  peace ;  and  it  is  therefore  tlie  temper  to 


52  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

which,  from  the  very  dawn  of  reason,  we  should  en- 
deavor to  bring  children. 

In  our  endeavors  to  effect  this  great  object,  kind 
and  mild  and  serene,  but  unyielding,  perseverance  is 
to  be  employed.  There  must  be  neither  violence 
nor  hurry.  If  the  child  is  impatient,  some  constraint, 
if  necessary,  must  be  used  to  prevent  ebullitions  of 
passion  or  fretfulness,  and  time  must  be  given  for  it 
to  recover  itself;  then  steady,  and  unwearied,  but 
calm  and  affectionate,  addresses  to  its  reason  and 
feelings,  suited  to  its  age,  and  habits,  and  natural 
disposition,  must  be  employed.  The  sagacity  and 
ingenuity  of  the  parent  must  be  tasked  to  select  the 
best  topics,  and  handle  them  in  the  best  manner  for 
the  production  of  the  desired  effect.  But,  above  all, 
his  eye  must  be  upon  God  for  guidance  and  a 
blessing,  and  for  putting  his  own  mind  in  the  frame 
best  adapted  to  win  upon  the  affections  of  the  child, 
and  impress  his  heart.  The  dawnings  of  a  right 
spirit  in  him  must  be  hailed ;  openness  and  confi- 
dence must  be  courted  and  encouraged ;  the  kind- 
ness of  God  and  Christ  to  penitents  must  be  as  fully 
and  touchingly  pourtrayed  a8  their  hatred  of  sin. 
Care  must  be  taken  not  to  overstrain  or  overpower 
the  feelings  ;  and  when  any  danger  of  doing  so  ap- 
pears, a  pause  must  take  place  till  they  are  relieved, 
and  self-command  is  regained.  This  course  admits 
of  great  variations,  and  must  be  carefully  adapted 
to  the  age  and  character  and  attainments  of  the 
child  :  but  I  think  I  can  say  from  experience,  that  it 
will  seldom  if  ever  fail  of  ultimate  success,  if  stea- 
dily  and  habitually  pursued.     It  may  be  said  to 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  53 

begin  from  nothing ;  and  for  several  months  a  very 
small  paj't  of  it  will  be  brought  forward,  though  there 
will  be  a  continual  progress  as  the  mind  of  the  child 
opens,  and  something  right  in  moral  feeling  and  habit 
is  established.  He  will  begin  to  learn  the  difference 
between  being  good  and  naughty ;  then,  that  though 
he  desists  from  doing  a  naughty  thing,  he  continues 
naughty  till  he  is  soiTy  for  it  and  good-humored; 
and  then,  and  not  till  then,  he  may  expect  the  kiss 
of  forgiveness,  and  regain  the  favor  of  his  parent. 
Next  he  will  be  taught  to  reflect  on  his  happiness 
when  good,  and  on  the  pain  he  suffers  when  naughty ; 
and  he  will  be  told  that  this  is  from  God,  who  loves 
goodness  and  hates  naughtiness,  as  he  sees  his 
parents  do.  Then  he  will  proceed  to  learn  that,  like 
his  parents,  God  expects  sorrow  for  sin,  and  a  mild 
and  humble  prayer  for  forgiveness,  before  he  will 
forgive  a  naughty  child,  and  love  him,  and  make 
him  happy.  While  this  is  in  progress,  the  parent 
will  endeavor  to  make  the  child  feel  the  evil  and 
folly  of  naughtiness,  and  the  beauty  and  true  wis- 
dom of  being  good.  This  will  not  be  very  difficult 
to  inculcate,  when  the  child  is  sensible  that  sin  and 
misery,  and  holiness  and  happiness,  generally  go  to- 
gether. During  tlie  latter  part  of  this  course,  gos- 
pel facts  and  principles  will  be  gradually  opened. 
The  child  will  have  heard  of  Christ  ever  since  he 
first  heard  of  God ;  and  now  the  distinct  character 
and  offices  of  Christ  will  begin  to  be  unfolded.  He 
will  be  painted  as  the  Friend  of  mankind ;  as  the 
gi'eat  Refuge  of  all  who  have  done  wrong ;  as  al- 
ways willing  to  help  them,  and  beer  his  Father  to 

F  2 


51  A    PRACTICAT.    VIEW 

forgive  them  ;  as  all  kijidness  and  goodness,  and  as 
setting  us  an  example  of  all  that  is  lovely  and  ex- 
cellent ;  and  as  now  exalted  in  glory,  and  all-wise, 
and  all-powerful.  Pains  will  be  taken  to  make  him 
the  object  of  affection  attempered  by  reverence,  and 
to  make  it  pleasant  to  the  child  to  please  him,  and 
painful  to  offend  him.  The  child  will  in  like  manner 
be  made  acquainted  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  hea- 
ven, and  hell,  and  the  day  of  judgment,  and  eter- 
nity, and  the  lost  state  of  man,  and  redemption.  All 
these  things  will  be  taught  with  an  immediate  refer- 
ence to  practice  and  the  heart.  They  must  be  un- 
folded gradually,  and  with  a  strict  attention  to  the 
abilities  and  temperament  of  the  cliild ;  and  especial 
care  must  be  taken,  that  by  God's  blessing  the 
feelings  shall  be  properly  affected  as  the  understand- 
ing is  informed. 

5.  Be  on  your  guard  against  the  little  wiles  and  ar- 
artifices  which  children  will  soon  employ  to  obtain 
their  ends. 

It  is  surprising  how  ingenious  and  adroit  they 
will  be  in  this  way.  They  will  endeavor  to  do,  as 
mere  play,  something  which  they  know  to  be  wrong 
and  forbidden ;  and  to  put  you  off  by  a  laugh  and 
a  joke  when  you  require  them  to  acknowledge  that 
they  have  done  wrong.  These  little  tricks  lead  to 
much  evil.  They  undermine  sincerity  and  simplicity 
of  character ;  and  instead  of  being  amused  by  them, 
as  is  often  the  case,  a  parent  should  view  them  with 
concern,  and  in  that  spirit  carefully  repress  them. 
It  is  a  good  general  rule  in  early  youth,  that  nothing 
shall  be  said  or  done  in  joke  which  would  be  wrong 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  55 

if  in  earnest.  More  latitude  may  be  allowed  to  those 
who  are  grown  up :  but  children  cannot  discriminate 
between  what  is  innocent  in  jokes,  and  what  is  not ; 
and  if  they  could,  they  have  not  sufficient  steadiness 
of  principle,  and  sufficient  self-command,  to  confine 
themselves  within  the  proper  bounds,  when  suffered 
in  their  moments  of  gaiety  to  approach  the  brink  of 
what  is  wrong.  It  is  of  tlie  greatest  possible  impor- 
tance, to  preserve  the  mind  from  the  taint  of  cun- 
ning and  deceit ;  and  therefore  we  ought  to  be  more 
anxious  to  avoid  doing  too  little  than  too  much  to 
secure  tliis  point.  Simplicity  and  integi'ity  of  char- 
acter, tlie  great  foundation  of  every  thing  good,  de- 
pend upon  it. 

6.  Do  all  you  can  to  secure  a  consistency  of  sys- 
tem in  the  management  of  your  children. 

It  is  quite  apparent  how  indispensable  it  is  that  the 
father  and  mother  should  at  least  not  counteract 
each  other.  If  they  do  not  and  cannot  think  alike 
on  the  subject  of  education,  by  mutual  concessions 
and  accommodations  they  should  pursue  a  similai 
plan  with  their  children.  Grievous  are  the  conse- 
quences when  they  proceed  differently.  The  children 
presume  to  erect  themselves  into  judges  between 
their  parents :  they  play  off  one  against  the  other. 
Not  only  one  parent  sinks  in  their  esteem,  but  they 
often  lose  respect  for  both,  and  are  disobedient  to 
both.  Thus  the  Fifth  Commandment  is  habitually 
broken;  and  bad  principles  and  bad  habits  are  as 
likely  to  be  established  by  education  in  a  young 
family  so  circumstanced,  as  good  ones.  Let  me 
entreat   parents  to  sliun   this   fatal   rock.      If  one 


56  A    PRACTICAI,    VIEW 

of  them  is  conscious  that  the  other  is  best  qualified 
for  the  work  of  education,  let  such  parent  be  dis- 
posed to  yield  points  as  far  as  duty  will  allow,  and  to 
strengthen  the  hands  of  the  other.  And  even  that 
other,  instead  of  presuming  on  superior  ability  in 
this  line,  and  carrying  matters  with  a  high  hand, 
and  peremptorily  insisting  on  points  respecting 
which  there  may  be  a  difference  of  opinion  between 
them,  should  proceed  with  as  much  accommodation 
as  can  be  made  consistent  with  duty ;  and  where  a 
point  cannot  be  yielded,  still  the  suaviter  in  modo* 
should  be  practised  with  peculiar  care,  and  the  ne- 
cessary duty  performed  in  a  way  as  little  grating 
and  offensive  to  the  parent  who  disapproves,  as  may 
be.  Let  the  more  enlightened  parent  recollect,  that 
an  indifferent  plan  of  education,  in  which  parents 
harmoniously  join,  will  generally  answer  much  bet- 
ter than  a  superior  one  respecting  which  they  differ. 
Besides,  by  kind  accommodations,  the  misjudging 
parent  is  often  won  by  degrees  to  see  things  in  a 
more  just  light,  and  to  acquiesce  in  a  better  system. 
Where  both  parents  act  on  prmciple,  and  refer  to  the 
Bible  as  their  standard,  and  do  not  interpret  it  in  a 
very  different  way,  a  degree  of  accordance,  which 
will  answer  tolerably  well  for  practical  purposes, 
may  reasonably  be  expected.  The  greatest  difficulty 
arises  when  one  of  the  parents  does  not  act  on  prin- 
ciple, or  refers,  substantially,  to  a  different  standard 
from  the  other.  Even  in  these  distressing  cases,  the 
suaviter  in  modo,-\  on  a  true  Christian  foundation,  will 
do  wonders.     It  often  disarms  hostility  and  counter- 

*  Mild  and  pleasant.         t  A  gentle  and  accommodating  manner. 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EnrJCATIO.V.  57 

actio)),  and  leaves  the>  young  family  very  much  in 
the  hands  of  the  parent  best  qualified  to  educate  it. 
And  I  fully  believe,  from  personal  observation,  that 
the  Divine  blessing  rests  in  an  uncommon  degree  on 
the  labors  of  a  Christian  parent  so  unhappily  cir- 
cumstanced, and  fruits  follow  excellent  and  abun- 
dant beyond  all  human  expectation.  With  what 
pleasure  have  T  seen  a  majority  of  the  young  mem- 
bers of  a  family,  most  lamentably  exposed  to  temp- 
tation by  one  parent,  snatched  out  of  the  fire,  as  it 
were,  by  the  pious  alnd  constant,  but  meek  and  un- 
assuming, labors  of  the  other  ! 

In  families  where  the  parents  proceed  harmo- 
niously and  well  in  the  work  of  education,  their 
plan  is  often  lamentably  counteracted  in  the  nursery, 
or  the  school-room.  If  the  children  are  indulged 
there  in  bad  tempers  and  habits ;  and  still  more,  if 
they  there  meet  with  bad  examples ;  with  passion, 
or  pride,  or  deceit,  or  a  love  of  ease  and  luxury ;  all 
which  is  done  in  the  parlour  may  be  undone,  and 
perhaps  more  than  undone :  and  not^vithstanding  all 
the  efforts  of  the  parents,  the  progress  of  the  child 
may  be  not  in  good,  but  in  evil.  Even  on  the  most 
favorable  supposition,  the  fruits  produced  by  the 
exertions  of  the  parents,  under  such  circumstances, 
will  be  scanty  and  cmde.  The  bias  of  nature  will 
be  so  in  favor  of  what  is  wrong,  and  so  against 
what  is  right,  that,  if  Divine  Grace  did  not  wonder- 
fully favor  the  exertions  of  true  piety  in  education, 
the  task  of  the  parents  would  be  hopeless.  How 
carefully,  then,  should  nurses  and  others,  who  are 
put   about  children,  be  selected!     And  how  atten- 


58  A    PRACTICAL    VJEW 

tively  should  the  course  of  things  in  the  nursery  and 
the  school-room  be  watched  and  regulated!  To 
this  end,  the  nurse  or  the  governess  should  be  im- 
pressed with  a  sense  of  the  very  high  importance 
which  the  parent  attaches  to  good  tempers  and  good 
habits ;  to  which  must  be  added,  good  principles,  if 
the  child  is  old  enough  to  understand  them.  But  it 
will  by  no  means  be  sufficient  to  endeavour  to  make 
this  impression  by  general  declarations.  It  must  be 
made  in  detail  and  by  example,  and  with  a  perse- 
vering, but  not  a  harrassing,  recurrence  to  those 
points  which  seem  to  be  not  sufficiently  understood, 
or  not  properly  carried  into  practice.  The  vigilant 
eye  of  the  parent  will  always  be  wanted  to  keep 
things  in  the  right  course,  as  well  as  to  put  them 
into  it  at  first.  It  must  be  laid  down  as  a  principle, 
that  nothing  must  be  concealed  by  the  child.  That  vile 
maxim  against  telling  tales  out  of  school  (vile,  when 
employed  to  keep  parents  in  ignorance,)  must  be  ut- 
terly proscribed  ;  and  openness  and  confidence  must 
be  zealously  cultivated,  both  in  the  child  and  in  those 
who  have  the  charge  of  him.  But  the  parents  must 
not  trust  to  being  informed  of  every  thing  important 
to  be  known.  They  must  delicately,  but  affection- 
ately, make  the  requisite  inquiries;  and  also  take 
care  by  personal  inspection  (conducted,  however, 
with  kindness  and  delicacy  to  the  nurse  or  the  govern- 
ess) to  ascertain  the  real  state  of  things.  But,  with 
all  that  can  be  done,  it  will  seldom  be  found  possible 
to  put  the  management  of  children  in  the  nursery 
on  a  truly  good  footing.  The  class  of  persons  to  be 
employed  is  so  ill-educated  and  unenlightened,  and 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  59 

such  of  them  as  are  pious  are  generally  so  inju- 
dicious, that  not  only  the  plan  of  the  parent  with  the 
child  will  scarcely  ever  be  even  tolerably  maintain- 
ed when  the  child  is  out  of  his  sight,  but  positive  and 
serious  evils  will  be  produced  and  cherished.  It  is 
highly  important,  therefore,  that  the  child  should  be 
as  much  with  the  parent  as  circumstances  will  per- 
mit. Every  hour  in  the  society  of  a  parent  who  un- 
derstands education,  and  pays  proper  attention  to  it, 
is  an  hour  gained  to  moral  improvement,  and,  (as 
far  at  least  as  regards  children  yet  in  the  nursery)  is 
too  often  an  hour  redeemed  from  what  is  far  from 
deserving  that  appellation.  In  whatever  way  the 
child  is  employed,  whether  in  talking  or  playing,  a 
moral  lesson  may  be  instilled,  moral  habits  may  be 
encouraged,  and  bad  ones  repressed :  the  parent  will 
continually  be  obtaining  a  greater  insight  into  the 
child's  character,  and  the  child  greater  affection  for 
its  parent.  Thus  good  will  be  doing,  and  a  founda- 
tion laying  for  still  greater  good.  Indeed,  God 
seems  to  me  to  afford  no  slight  ground  for  presum- 
ing that  childi-en  should  be  much  with  their  parents, 
by  making  the  society  of  each  so  pleasant  to  the 
other,  where  the  parent  performs  his  part  as  he 
ought,  and  the  child  has  not  been  spoiled  by  excess- 
ive indulgence  in  some  other  quarter.  But  the  evi- 
dence of  his  will,  which  arises  from  the  benefit  re- 
sulting to  the  child,  and  also,  I  believe,  to  the  parent, 
from  this  intercourse,  is  irrefragable  and  decisive. 

It  often  happens,  however,  that  there  is  an  incon- 
sistency in  education  more  to  be  deplored  than  any 
which  has  yet  been  mentioned  : — this  is  the  incon- 


60  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

sistency  of  tlie  parent  with  himself.  The  author  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  contrasting  the  correc- 
tion employed  by  parents  with  that  used  by  the  Al- 
mighty in  his  government  of  his  true  servants,  says, 
"  They, "  (the  parents)  "  verily  for  a  few  days  chast- 
ened us  after  their  own  pleasure,*  but  he  for  our 
profit,  that  we  miglit  be  partakers  of  his  holiness." 
What  a  picture  is  this  !  God,  the  Sovereign  Proprie- 
tor of  all  his  creatures,  invariably  pursues  the  good 
of  those  whom  he  deigns  to  call  his  sons,  in  all  the 
discipline  to  which  he  subjects  them;  while  man, 
who  can  call  nothing  his  own,  who  is  a  mere  trustee 
under  the  Almighty,  who,  in  his  conduct  towards 
his  children,  should  always  bear  in  mind  that  both 
they  and  he  are  bought  with  a  price,  and  that  not 
his  own  gratification,  but  the  will  of  God,  should  be 
his  rule  in  all  he  does  as  a  father, — man  presumes  to 
forget  his  imperious  duties  in  education,  and  to 
make  it  his  object  to  please  himself  rather  than  his 
Sovereign  Lord  !  If  we  did  not  continually  see  tlie 
fact,  we  should  not  believe  it  possible  that  the  work 
of  education  would  be  so  often  carried  on  under  the 
supreme  influence  of  selfishness.  His  own  ease  anrl 
convenience  and  the  indulgence  of  his  own  feeling  and 
humor,  frequently  seem  to  engage  a  father's  first  at- 

*  A  friend  has  intimated  that  the  Greek  phrase,  translated  "  after 
their  own  pleasure,"  would  be  better  rendered  "  as  they  thought 
fitting."  If  tlie  latter  be  the  real  import  of  the  original,  the  pas- 
sage will  not  form  so  broad  a  foimdation  for  my  observations  as  if 
it  were  that  given  in  our  translation.  But  however  this  may  be, 
I  am  convinced  that  the  extent  of  the  evil  pointed  out  in  them  is 
but  too  fully  proved  by  fact  and  experience. 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  61 

tention  in  his  proceedings  with  his  children  ;  and,  ex- 
cept in  striking  cases,  which  oblige  him,  as  it  were, 
to  depart  from  so  lax  a  system,  the  good  of  the  child 
is  clearly  made,  in  practice,  though  not  in  theory,  a 
secondary  object :  so  true  is  the  description  of  the 
Apostle :  he  proceeds  according  to  his  own  pleasure, 
rather  than  for  the  profit  of  his  children.  When 
education  is  not  conducted  so  very  ill,  and  the  good 
of  the  child  is  generally  the  main  object  of  the  parent, 
and  his  own  inclinations  are  generally  made  to  bend 
to  it ;  yet,  in  many  families,  this  general  course  is 
subject  to  most  numerous  and  grievous  exceptions. 
When  the  stimulus  to  self-gi'atification  is  strong,  the 
parent  yields  to  it,  the  iTiles  of  good  education  are 
violated,  and  the  child  cannot  but  be  injured.  The 
injuiy  (unless  God  avert  it)  will  be  in  proportion  to 
the  extent  of  this  fault.  Some  portion  of  it  is  found 
in  all  parents:  but  I  am  speaking  not  of  a  few 
thinly  scattered  instances  rarely  occuring,  such  as 
must  be  expected  from  so  weak  a  creature  as  man 
even  in  his  best  estate,  but  of  its  more  frequent  and 
glaring  recurrence,  to  the  serious  interruption  of  a 
good  system  of  education. 

Now  it  is  clear  that  this  fault,  in  whatever  degree 
it  may  exist,  is  an  enemy  to  consistency  of  conduct. 
As  it  proceeds  from  the  parent  yielding  to  a  different 
motive  from  that  which  ought  to  actuate  him,  and 
sometimes  at  least  does  actuate  him,  when  with  his 
children  ;  this  new  motive  must  lead  to  different  re- 
sults from  those  which  would  flow  from  the  other, 
and  produce  inconsistency.  But  this  is  by  no  means 
all.     A  man  with  whom  self-gratification  is  a  lead- 

G 


62  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

ing  motive,  is  inconsistent  with  himself.  He  will 
conduct  himself  towards  his  child  according  to  his 
present  humor.  One  hour  he  will  be  indulgent, 
and  the  next  severe  :  at  one  time  he  will  allow  his 
child  to  do  things  which  at  another  he  would  forbid. 
The  child  also  will  find  out  that  he  can  carry  points 
by  management ; — by  making  his  request  when  the 
parent  is  in  a  yielding  humor,  or  by  bringing  him 
into  such  a  humour  by  coaxing  and  wheedling,  or 
by  overcoming  his  objections  by  importunity.  In- 
consistency must  be  the  consequence  :  and  an  in- 
consistency the  more  to  be  deplored,  because  it  will 
be  connected  with  a  failure  in  respect  for  the  parent 
who  is  the  author  of  it,  and  with  the  practice  of 
cunning  and  art  in  the  child,— habits  of  mind  most 
adverse  to  all  that  is  good. 

The  very  high  importance  of  consistency  must  be 
apparent  to  all.  Will  children  be  hkely  to  value 
good  principles  as  they  ought,  when  their  parents  do 
not  steadily  act  upon  them,  and  enforce  them  ?  Will 
good  habits  be  rooted  and  fixed  in  the  child  when  he 
is  allowed  at  times  to  indulge  in  the  opposite  bad 
ones  ?  Will  he  be  led  to  see  the  beauty  of  holiness 
of  heart,  and  of  holy  conduct,  when  he  is  allowed 
at  times  to  taste  the  sweets  of  sin  (for  every  fault  is 
a  sin)  from  which  he  ought  to  be  weaned,  and  when 
he  finds  his  own  self-indulgence  sanctioned  by  the 
self-indulgence  of  his  parent  ?  "  The  ways  of  Re- 
ligion are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths 
are  peace  ;"  but  to  those  only  who  steadily  walk  in 
them.  They  have  no  charms  for  those  whose  con- 
duct is  marked  by  frequent  or  gross  inconsistencies. 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  63 

7.  Spend  much  time  with  your  children  :  encou- 
rage them  to  be  free  before  you  ;  and  carefully  stu- 
dy their  characters. 

For  what  is  education  ?  It  is  co-operating  with 
the  Divine  Spirit  in  forming  the  mind  and  changing 
the  heart  of  an  immortal  being,  whose  nature  is  ex- 
tremely complex,  by  no  means  easily  understood, 
and  differing  greatly  in  different  individuals  ;  in  all, 
however,  weak  and  corrupt,  and  averse  to  the 
change  to  be  wrought  in  it.  Is  it  possible  to  doubt, 
that  what  is  above  recommended  must  be  necessary 
in  tliis  work  r  Can  too  great  pains  be  taken  where 
so  much  is  at  stake  ?  Can  success  be  rationally  ex- 
pected, unless  great  pains  are  taken,  and  your  la- 
bors are  enlightened  and  judicious  ?  And  can  you 
flatter  yourself  that  you  take  due  pains,  or  that 
your  labors  will  have  a  proper  direction,  if  you  give 
little  time  to  your  arduous  task,  and  do  not  employ 
proper  means  for  becoming  well  acquainted  with 
the  characters  of  your  children  ? 

It  is  wonderful  that  a  parent  can  hope  to  be  an  ef- 
fectual instrument  under  Divine  Grace,  in  leading 
his  children  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God,  by  proceeding  in  the  way 
in  which  religious  education  is  often  conducted.  Is 
it  not  generally  true,  that  even  in  religious  families, 
more  thought,  and  care,  and  time  are  employed  in 
teaching  children  to  read,  than  in  teaching  and  per- 
suading them,  by  God's  help,  to  be  real  Christians  ? 
The  father  sees  but  little  of  those  who  are  young, 
and  much  less  than  is  desirable  of  such  as  are  older. 

The  first  he  considers  as  scarcely  at  all  under  his 


64  A    PRACTJCAL    VIEW 

care;  and  though  he  probably  gives  some  instructions 
to  the  latter,  they  are  commonly  such  as  are  more 
calculated  to  enlarge  their  knowledge,  and  improve 
their  understandings,  than  to  regulate  their  disposi- 
tions, and  make  them  new  creatures.  His  avocations 
often  are  such  as  to  make   it  impossible  for  him 
to  be  a  gi'eat  deal  with  his  children  ;  but  he  gene- 
rally might  be  much  more  with  them  than  he  is  ;  and 
when  with  them,  might  employ  the  time  much  more 
usefully  for  the  promotion  of  their  best  interests  than 
he  does.     It  often  happens  that  they  are  under  a  de- 
gree of  restraint  in  his  presence,  which,  added  to  the 
little  time  he  spends  with  them,  prevents  his  obtain- 
ing a  deep  insight  into  their  characters ;  and,   there- 
fore, either  many  evils  escape  his  notice,  or  he  a- 
dopts  some  wrong  mode  of  correcting  them  ;  and 
many  a  tender  germ  of  good  passes  unobserved,  and 
withers  for  want  of  his  fostering  care. — The  mother 
is  much  more  with  her  children,  but  generally,  I 
think,  not  so  much  as  she  ought  to  be.     This  is  the 
more  to  be  lamented,  because  women  are  admirably 
fitted  for  training  their  offspring  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord.     They  have  a  remarkable 
quick  insight  into  character  :  and  a  warmth  of  af- 
fection, a  tenderness  and  a  delicacy,  which  win  the 
affection  of  others,  and  enable  them  to  correct  faults 
without  giving  offence,  and  to  present  Christian 
principles  and  virtues  to  their  cliildren  in  tiieir  most 
amiable  form.     I  believe  that  there  has  seldom  been  a 
man  who  had  a  good  and  amiable  mother,  that  has 
not  in  after-life  looked  back  on  lier  instructions  and 
example  with  reverence  and  delight.    Cowper's  ad- 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION. 


65 


niirable  little  poem  on  viewing  his  mother's  picture, 
touches  the  hearts  of  all  of  us,  because  it  describes 
scenes  and  feelings  dear  to  every  virtuous  mind ; 
scenes  and  feelings  of  which  many  of  us  have  par- 
taken, and  all  wish  to  partake. 

Every  hour  which  a  Christian  mother  spends  with 
her  children  has  balm  on  its 'wings.  She  contrives 
to  make  even  their  pastimes  a  moral  lesson ;  and 
though  she  cannot  (and  it  is  not  desirable  that  she 
should)  make  their  regular  lessons  a  pastime,  yet 
she  adapts  them  well  to  the  abilities  of  her  scholars, 
accommodates  them  well  to  times  and  circumstan- 
ces, and  divests  them  of  whatever  is  oppressive  and 
revolting.  To  mix  the  pleasant  with  the  useful,  is 
at  least  as  important  in  education  as  in  poetry  ;  but 
good  mothers  far  exceed  good  poets  in  that  art. 
Surely,  then,  a  mother  should  be  jealous  of  every 
thing  which  keeps  her  from  the  bosom  of  her  family ; 
— a  sphere  in  which  she  is  so  gifted  to  shine,  and  to 
be  a  blessing  to  those  most  dear  to  her.  How  sad 
it  is,  when  she  throws  away  this  pure  gold  for  mere 
dross,  by  giving  up  those  hours  to  an  excess  of  visit- 
ing and  company,  or  even  of  reading,  which  ought 
to  be  spent  among  her  children  !  And  how  sad,  too, 
when  such  high  powers  to  train  her  young  charge 
for  Christ  and  glory  are  not  under  the  guidance  of 
an  enlightened  judgement,  or  receive  a  wrong  di- 
rection !  I  have  been  grieved  to  see  maternal  sensi- 
bility much  more  alive  to  the  bodily  than  to  the 
spiritual  health  of  the  objects  of  its  solicitude  :  elec- 
trified when  there  was  an  idea  that  a  child  had  re- 
ceived some  slight  hurt,  but  little  moved  while  it 

G  2 


66  A    PRACTICAI.    VIEW 

was  contesting  a  point  with  a  nurse,  or  teasing  a 
brother.  And  I  have  been  much  more  grieved,  when 
I  have  seen  it  fall  into  partiality  and  favouritism ;  or 
exhaust  itself  in  anxieties  about  the  persons  of  the 
girls,  to  the  comparative  neglect  of  their  understand- 
ings, and  to  the  great  injury  of  their  feelings  and 
dispositions  ;  or  employ  itself  in  heaping  on  them  ac- 
complishments, instead  of  leading  them  on  in  useful 
attainments  and  Christian  habits  ;  or  yielding  to  the 
influence  of  humour  or  caprice  ;  or  (worse  than  all) 
giving  itself  over  to  a  blindness  to  the  faults  of  the 
objects  of  its  love,  and  ruining  them  by  indulgence 
and  commendation. 

The  only  plausible  excuse  which  parents,  possess- 
ing health  and  sufficient  time,  can  make  for  not  em- 
ploying themselves  actively  in  the  education  of  their 
children  is,  that  they  put  them  into  hands  more  fit 
for  that  task.  This  may  be  a  good  reason  for  send- 
ing boys,  after  a  certain  age,  to  school,  or  to  a  tutor ; 
though  still,  even  in  their  case,  much  remains  to  be 
done  by  parents.  Waving,  however  the  consider- 
ation of  this  part  of  the  subject,  the  excuse  which 
has  been  mentioned  does  not  appear  to  be  admissi- 
ble, under  any  common  circumstances,  in  the  case 
of  girls  and  of  younger  boys.  Of  these,  the  parents 
are  certainly  the  natural  guides  and  intructors.  By 
long  knowledge  of  their  offspring,  by  their  just  title 
to  respect  as  parents,  and  by  affections  and  sympa- 
thies on  both  sides,  they  are  fitted  for  this  task  far 
better  than  strangers  can  be.  And  if  they  suffer 
these  great  instruments  of  good  to  be  lost,  or  per- 
verted to  evil ;  or  if  they  fail  to  qualify  themselves 


OF    CMRISTIAH    EDUCATIOW. 


67 


tor  tlieir  task  by  obtaining  other  requisites,  and  by- 
allotting  to  it  sufficient  time  and  thought,  and  taking 
due  care  and  pains  ;  they  must  be  answerable  to 
God.  They  may,  with  much  propriety,  call  in  as- 
sistance, especially  in  the  mechanical  parts  of  edu- 
cation ;  but  should  always  consider  themselves  as 
keeping  the  higher  branches,  which  respect  the  prin- 
ciples, dispositions,  and  habits,  chiefly  in  their  own 
hands.  Can  they  entrust  these  to  nurse-maids? 
They  must  certainly  answer.  No !  Or  to  govern- 
esses? These,  in  general,  are  but  ill  qualified  to 
undertake  this  most  important  part  of  education. 
Besides,  being  extremely  inferior  to  the  parents  in 
the  points  which  have  been  mentioned,  they  are  al- 
most always  unprepared  for  the  task.  The  boarding- 
schools,  at  which  they  are  educated,  afford  them 
little  instruction  in  this  line,  beyond  what  is  necess- 
ary for  ensuring  the  getting  of  lessons,  and  the 
maintenance  of  peace  and  subordination. 


68  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 


CHAP.  IV. 


The  Period  between  a  Child's  heginning  to  read  and 
going  to  School:  —  its  Importance. — The  Objects  of 
Education,  and  their  relative  Value. — Commencement 
of  Instruction  in  Reading. — Rosseau: — Education  a 
Discipline. — Choice  of  Books. —  Tones  and  Articula- 
tion.— Care  in  the  Use  of  Religious  Books : — Selection 
of  them. — Catechisms. 

During  the  period  between  a  child's  first  beginning- 
to  read  and  the  time  of  his  going  to  school,  the  mind 
becomes  capable  of  more  continued  and  systematic 
instruction.  Its  powers  expand  and  acquire  a  degree 
of  firmness;  and  a  far  more  regular  foundation  may 
be  laid  for  the  opinions,  dispositions,  and  habits 
which  ought  to  predominate  in  mature  age.  That 
wondrous  being,  man,  displaying  so  many  marks  of 
his  high  origin,  as  well  as  of  his  deplorable  fall ; 
whose  astonishing  progress  in  knowledge,  when  his 
powers  are  cultivated,  and  whose  more  astonishing 
capabilities  of  knowledge,  clearly  point  him  out  as 
destined  to  a  more  exalted  state  of  being ;  and  whose 
no  less  astonishing  progress  in  good  or  in  evil,  and 
further  capabilities  of  both  according  to  the  course 
lie  takes,  afford  clear  indications  that  that  future 
state  will  be  one  of  righteous  retribution,  eminently 
blessed  or  eminently  wretched :— that  wondrous 
being,  at  an  eariy  age,  receives  impressions  which 


OF    CHRISTIAN     EDUCATiON.  69 

sink  deep  into  his  as  yet  soft  and  yielding  nature, 
and  acquires  habits  which  take  such  firm  hold  of 
that  nature  as  almost  to  become  part  of  it.  With 
what  anxious  care,  then,  should  this  spring-time  of 
life  be  employed  in  preparations  for  the  future  har- 
vest !  If  there  be  not  a  harvest  of  good,  there  must 
be  one  of  evil.  The  heavenly  sickle  will  most  as- 
suredly, in  due  time,  gather  either  the  one  or  the 
other :  and  then  with  what  unspeakable  joy  or  grief 
will  parents  look  back  on  their  conduct  towards 
their  offspring  during  the  years  of  early  childhood ! 

There  is  a  further  consideration,  which,  in  the  case 
of  boys,  adds  extremely  to  the  importance  of  paren- 
tal exertions  in  education  during  the  period  in  ques- 
tion. On  its  expiration,  they  usually  leave  their 
lather's  house,  never  afterwards,  during  the  whole 
course  of  their  education,  to  spend  in  it  any  very 
large  portion  of  their  time.  And  whither  do  they 
go  ?  To  school,  where  they  are  surrounded  by  new 
companions,  and  find  in  abundance  new  sentiments, 
new  habits,  and  new  temptations.  Their  parents 
are  no  longer  at  hand ;  and  it  is  impossible  for  the 
master  to  afford  them  the  protection  which  parents 
can  afford  against  the  inroads  of  folly  and  vice,  es- 
pecially out  of  school  hours.  His  time  is  too  much 
occupied,  and  his  family  is  too  numerous  to  admit  of 
close  personal  attention  to  his  individual  scholars,  in 
their  general  manners  and  habits.  If  they  enter  this 
new  worid  without  decidedly  good  principles,  and 
corresponding  conduct  of  some  continuance,  what  is 
to  be  expected  ?  Can  it  be  rationally  hoped  that  they 
will  resist  their  ovm  natural  bias  to  evil,  stimulated, 


70  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

as  it  will  be,  by  bad  example  and  false  shame  ?     If 
the  father  sees,  on  his  son's  return  home  for  the  holi- 
days, a  change  which  shocks  him  (though  parental 
partiality  will  often  make  him  in  a  great  measure 
blind  to  that  which  is  apparent  to  others),  how  is  he 
to  remedy  the  evil  ?     He  will  exert  himself  during 
the  boy's  continuance  at  home.     But  that  is  short ; 
and  to  be  followed  by  a  much  longer  period,  during 
which  his  son  will  again  be  exposed  to  the  same 
temptations  which  he  was  before  too  weak  to  resist ; 
— temptations  now  more  formidable  from  not  having 
been  resisted.  The  parent  will  engage  the  master  to 
~  counteract  the  evils  he  deplores :  but  the  master, 
whatever  may  be  his  ability  and  good  intentions, 
cannot  perform  impossibilities,  nor,  if  the  number  of 
his  pupils  is  not  extremely  small,  give  the  time  and 
attention  to  the  case  of  this  one  boy  which  it  would 
probably  require.     Supposing,  however,  his  engage- 
ments to  admit  of  his  executing  this  task  effectually, 
I  confess  I  should  be  apprehensive  that  he  will  very 
rarely  be  found  disposed  to  do  so.     His  affection  for 
the  child  cannot  be  expected  to  be  that  of  a  parent, 
and  therefore  he  will  generally  be  found  deficient  in 
the  delicate  and  unceasing  duties  of  an  office  which 
requires  all  tlie  tender  solicitude  that  flows  from  pa- 
rental affection.    The  father  also  writes  frequently 
to  his  son.  Letters,  in  such  a  case,  are  a  very  inade- 
quate substitute  for  ocular  inspection  and  viva  voce* 
admonition.     Perhaps,  however,  he  adopts  what  he 
deems  the  most  efficacious  measure,  and  sends  his 

*  Admonition  by  word  of  mouth. 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  71 

boy  to  another  school.  Is  there  not  reason  to  fear 
that  the  new  school  will  have  its  own  peculiar  dis- 
advantages ?  But  supposing  it  to  introduce  him  to 
no  new  evils,  is  there  any  valid  reason  to  hope  that 
it  will  furnish  a  radical  cure  for  the  old  mischiefs  ? 
God's  grace  can  do  every  thing ;  and  his  mercy  often 
effects  more  than  we  can  ask  or  think ;  but  I  cannot 
avoid  looking  upon  the  prospect  of  a  parent,  whose 
child  has  not  taken  to  school  with  him  a  good  foun- 
dation of  religious  principles  and  habits,  and  enters 
on  bad  courses  there,  as  very  gloomy  and  discoura- 
ging. 

Enough,  I  hope,  has  been  said  on  the  vast  impor- 
tance of  making  the  best  use  of  that  period  in  edu- 
cation which  is  now  under  review.  How  is  this 
purpose  to  be  effected  ?  Without  presuming  to  give 
a  full  answer  to  that  momentous  inquiry,  I  will  offer 
some  practical  observations  on  this  subject. 

First,  then,  in  taking  a  Christian  view  of  the  ob- 
jects of  education,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
first  is  to  instil  and  cherish,  in  dependence  on  the 
Divine  blessing,  true  religion,  botli  in  the  soul  and 
in  the  daily  and  hourly  habits  of  life :  and  the  second, 
to  convey  general  knowledge  and  form  the  mind  and 
the  manners.  These  objects  are  in  no  small  degree 
coincident  each  ^vith  the  other.  Nothing  is  so  con- 
ducive to  whatever  things  are  lovely,  of  good  report, 
virtuous,  and  praiseworthy  in  the  various  walks  and 
stations  of  life,  as  a  heart  renewed  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  a  demeanor  coiTesponding  with  such  a 
renewal.  But,  so  far  as  they  are  distinct,  the  first 
has  a  decided  pre-eminence.    Happy  is  it  when  in 


72  A    PRACTirAI,    VIF.W 

practice  it  ineets  with  the  superior  care,  attention, 
and  solicitude,  which  in  theory  is  readily  allowed  to 
be  its  due!  Partly  from  causes  which  have  been 
pointed  out,  and  partly  from  the  example  of  that 
vast  majority  of  mankind  which  has  not  true  religion 
really  at  heart,  even  Christian  parents  are  apt  to 
slide  into  a  system  of  education,  if  not  directly  op- 
posed to  the  foregoing  principle,  yet  certainly  one 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  St.  Peter  or  St.  Paul,  would 
be  thought  too  nearly  approaching  to  "  the  course 
of  this  world."  Let  it  be  strongly  borne  in  mind, 
that  if  we  do  not  set  out  with  a  just  and  distinct 
view  of  our  objects  in  the  management  of  our  chil- 
dren ;  and  if  we  do  not  continually  try  our  practice 
by  our  principles,  and  use  vigorous  and  unceasing 
endeavors  to  keep  it  up  to  their  standard,  the  stream 
will  be  poisoned  at  the  very  fountain,  and  we  shall 
have  cause  to  deplore  the  consequences. 

An  attention  to  the  relative  importance  of  the 
objects  in  education,  is  necessary,  even  in  the  very 
first  step  to  be  taken  by  a  parent  in  the  period  under 
consideration.  He  must  determine  at  what  age  it 
will  be  best  to  begin  to  teach  his  child  to  read.  Were 
he  to  make  mere  progress  in  reading  his  chief  con- 
cern, I  am  by  no  means  certain  that  he  might  not 
defer  the  commencement  of  his  instructions  a  year 
or  two  longer  than  is  desirable,  if  he  considers  the 
acquisition  of  good  habits  as  of  still  greater  import- 
ance, and  to  be  greatly  promoted  by  calling  a  child 
to  the  obedience,  attention,  patience,  self-denial,  and 
other  good  habits  which  he  must  practise,  in  ac- 
quiring tl.e  first  rudiments  of  reading.     However, 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  73 

the  weakness  and  volatility  of  the  little  scholar,  and 
the  great  repugnancy  of  our  nature  to  exchange 
ease  and  play  for  restraint  and  toil,  must  be  borne 
in  mind.  But  little  must  be  put  upon  him.  For  a 
time,  attention  must  not  be  required  for  more  than  a 
very  few  minutes,  and  that  not  more  than  once  or 
twice  a  day.  But  what  is  done,  be  it  ever  so  httle 
should  be  done  with  a  regular  aim  at  correctness. 
"  A  little  and  well,"  should  be  the  teacher's  motto. 
Above  all,  the  utmost  endeavors,  consistent  with 
sober  and  sound  instruction,  must  be  used  to 
sweeten  the  labor,  and  not  only  to  prevent  bad 
tempers,  but  to  foster  every  thing  good  and  amiable. 
Times  must  be  chosen  for  lessons,  when  no  par- 
ticular cause  exists  for  ill  humor  or  impatience ;  and 
whatever  is  likely  to  excite  such  tempers  must  be 
kept  out  of  the  way.  If  any  thing  unexpectedly 
occurs  to  make  the  child  greatly  wish  for  an  earlier 
release  than  usual,  it  will  be  generally  right  to  in- 
dulge him  more  or  less,  according  to  circumstances, 
in  this  point,  if  he  has  been  tolerably  good  in  his 
lesson  :  and  even  when  he  has  not,  and  it  is  impos- 
sible to  speak  of  the  favour  as  in  any  degree  the 
fruit  of  his  good  conduct ;  or  if  from  any  other 
cause,  from  bad  temper,  for  instance,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  he  is  in  a  state  to  go  on  properly  with  his 
reading ;  it  will  usually  be  best  to  stop  the  lesson. 
But  for  obvious  reasons  he  must  not,  in  the  latter 
case,  be  treated  with  indulgence,  but  made  to  feel 
that  he  has  been  an  offender  by  some  litte  res- 
traint or  privation,  and  above  all,  by  a  suitable  con- 
versation on  the  subject.     A  delicacy  of  manage^ 

H 


74  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

ment  is  requisite  on  these  occa.sions.  They  call  not 
only  for  a  due  appreciation  of  their  importance, 
but  for  sagacity,  thought,  lively  and  well-poised 
feelings,  self-command,  and  active  and  sound  prin- 
ciple in  the  parent.  In  most  of  these  requisites, 
mothers  far  exceed  fathers.  Let  this  consideration, 
while  it  gives  confidence  and  vigour  to  the  exertions 
of  the  mother,  also  point  out  to  her  the  'extent 
of  her  criminality,  if  she  fail  to  make  a  good  use 
of  a  talent  bestowed  upon  her  for  the  benefit  of  her 
offspring ;  and  let  it  impress  on  the  father  the  ne- 
cessity of  using  double  diligence  in  qualifying  him- 
self for  the  discharge  of  his  parental  duties,  than, 
which  none  can  be  more  clearly  indispensable  or 
more  sacred. 

As  the  child  becomes  rather  older,  and  a  little 
habituated  to  his  business,  his  lessons  will  natu- 
rally be  increased  both  in  length  and  in  frequency. 
Less  care  will  be  requisite  in  choosing  the  time  for 
them  ;  and  after  a  while  that  care  will  cease,  and 
the  school  hours  will  be  stated  and  determinate :  less 
weight  will  be  given  to  obstacles  in  the  way  of  pro- 
ceeding with  a  lesson  :  and  in  all  points  more  regu- 
larity, more  self-possession,  more  voluntary  exertion, 
and  longer  and  stricter  attention  will  be  expected 
from  him. — I  would,  however,  caution  parents 
against  looking  for  a  rapid  or  uninterrupted  change 
in  these  respects.  They  will  so  much  wish  for  such  a 
change,  both  for  the  sake  of  their  scholar,  and  to 
lighten  their  own  burthen  as  teachers,  that  they  will 
be  under  a  great  temptation  to  expect  it,  and  to  be 
somewhat  impatient  and  harsii  when  disappointed. 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EUUCATIOiN.  75 

This  State  of  mind  in  parents  will  be  very  preju- 
dicial to  both  parties  ;  and  unless  there  be  a  timely- 
consciousness  of  error,  and  a  recurrence  to  a  better 
course,  the  most  disastrous  consequences  will  follow. 
The  bonds  of  affection  will  be  loosened,  the  confi- 
dence of  the  child  will  be  lost ;  and  he  will  be  led 
to  feel  towards  his  parent  as  a  severe  master,  in- 
stead of  a  wise  and  tender  friend,  armed  indeed  by 
the  Almighty  with  extraordinary  power,  but  al- 
ways unwilling  to  use  it,  and  effecting  his  purposes, 
if  possible,  by  the  most  mild  and  gentle  means.  In 
truth,  it  is  highly  unreasonable  to  expect  little  crea- 
tures to  make  a  regular  and  rapid  improvement  in 
their  reading.  Such  an  improvement  may  now  and 
then  take  place  :  but  in  general  tlie  change  will  be 
very  gradual,  and  subject  to  great  fluctuations.  For 
a  time,  a  child  may  make  great  progress,  then  sud- 
denly appear  to  make  none  at  all,  or  even  to  retro- 
grade. Surely,  this  is  very  natural  in  a  little  being 
come  into  the  world  with  a  strong  disposition  to  please 
itself,  rather  than  to  do  its  duty  ;  and  ready  to  be 
impatient  and  fretful  and  self-willed,  when  thwarted 
in  its  wishes  ;  and  with  mental  powers  but  just 
opening,  and  habits,  if  on  the  whole  good,  yet  very 
new  and  imperfect,  and  affording  no  security 
against  the  sudden  inroads  of  temptation.  I  have 
often  seen  parents  so  highly  unreasonable  as  to 
treat  evils  of  this  kind  as  if  they  were  quite  extraor- 
dinary, or  almost  intolerable,  and  such  as  call  for 
expressions  of  dissatisfaction,  and  a  severity  of  treat- 
ment, not  at  all  to  be  vindicated  ;  and  the  course  they 
have  pursued  in  addition  to  other  bad  consequences 


A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 


has  often  tended  to  aggravate  the  very  evil  they 
so  UTationally  deplore,  and  treat  in  so  unjudicious, 
not  to  say  in  so  unchristian  a  manner.  Undoubt- 
edly such  faults  are  to  be  counteracted  ;  but  by 
moderate  measures,  unaccompanied  by  anger  or 
discontent  in  the  parent,  and  not  habitually  harrass- 
ing  to  the  child,  or  likely  to  make  him  hate  reading, 
and  dread  the  lesson-hour,  and,  worse  than  all, 
likely  to  alienate  his  affections  from  his  natural  pro- 
tector and  guide. 

What  has  been  said  will  show,  that  though  a 
warm  advocate  for  mildness,  temperance,  and  for- 
bearance in  education,  I  am  no  friend  to  Rousseau's 
plan,  or  those,  built  on  the  same  foundation,  which 
have  been  proposed  by  others.  I  shall  not  stop  to 
speak  of  such  plans  at  any  length,  because  I  do  not 
believe  they  now  receive  much  countenance  among 
those  who  are  likely  to  read  these  observations,  and 
shall  only  say  that  they  are  founded  on  not  merely 
an  erroneous  view  of  human  nature,  but  on  a  view 
the  very  reverse  of  that  given  of  it  in  the  Scriptures  ; 
and  that  in  their  operation  they  are  calculated  to  set 
aside  the  Christian  system,  and  to  steel  the  mind 
against  it.  What  can  be  more  false  and  mischievous 
than  to  represent,  and  treat  man  as  a  creature  dis- 
posed of  himself  to  act  rightly,  and  to  cultivate  every 
good  chsposition,  if  he  be  but  preserved  from  being 
spoiled  by  priests  and  pedants,  and  be  put  in  the 
way  to  see,  by  the  established  order  of  things  in  the 
world,  that  virtue  will  best  promote  his  happiness  ? 
Had  this  been  agreeable  to  truth,  since  man  confes- 
sedly wishes  to  be  happy,  we  should  have  seen  virtue 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  77 

clearly  predominant  among  men,  if  not  universal ; 
and  vice  merely  an  exception  to  the  general  state  of 
things.  It  is  true,  that  God,  in  his  wisdom  and 
mercy  has  so  ordered  things,  tliat  virtue  does  pro- 
mote happiness,  and  vice  leads  to  misery,  even  in 
this  world.  At  least,  this  is  the  strong  tendency  of 
things ;  and  it  is  very  important  to  point  out  this 
truth  to  children,  and  to  accustom  them  to  feel  it  in 
the  common  occurrences  of  life.  Doubtless,  the 
writers  under  consideration  have  ingenious  devices 
for  effecting  this  object :  devices,  however,  in  which 
there  is  by  far  too  much  address  and  management 
to  suit  my  taste.  I  should  be  very  apprehensive, 
that  placing  a  child  in  the  midst  of  so  artificial  a 
system  was  a  bad  introduction  to  the  sincerity  and 
godly  simplicity  of  the  Gospel.  But  if  this  objection 
were  unfounded ;  if  these  devices  were  as  innocent 
and  useful  as  they  are  ingenious ;  still  as  to  adopt 
the  system  of  such  writers,  as  a  whole,  would  be 
most  ruinous,  so  to  recoimnend  their  works  without 
great  circumspection  to  those  around  us,  is,  in  my 
opinion,  highly  dangerous.  I  have  thought  some 
good  people  very  unguarded  on  this  point.  Such  a 
recommendation  is,  in  fact,  a  recommendation  of 
poison,  for  the  sake  of  the  virtues  that,  by  a  chemi- 
cal process,  may  be  extracted  from  it.  But  in  the 
cases  to  which  I  allude  there  has  been  no  due  cau- 
tion against  the  deleterous  qualities  of  the  poison, 
and  no  due  consideration  whether  those  to  whom 
the  recommendation  was  given  had  any  competent 
skill  in  Christian  chemistry. 

According  to  a  just  view  of  human  nature,  whe- 

H   2 


78  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

ther  derived  from  religion,  from  observation,  or  froirJ 
history,  in  education  it  cannot  be  left  to  the  choice  of 
the  child,  what  he  will  learn,  and  when  he  will  learn 
it.  Education  cannot  by  any  means  be  reduced  to 
a  sort  of  play  ;  but  it  must  be  a  discipline  upheld  by 
parental  authority — mild  indeed,  and  gentle  in  its 
exercise,  and  sweetened  by  affection,  but  still  a  dis- 
cipline— having  for  its  object,  in  humble  dependence 
on  the  Divine  blessing,  the  conducting  of  an  immor- 
tal creature,  in  the  first  stage  of  its  existence,  from 
darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  to 
God.  Its  great  business  must  necessarily  be  the 
counteracting  of  the  natural  bent  of  the  mind  to 
evil,  and  the  instilling  and  fostering,  under  the  gui- 
dance and  by  the  help  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  a  new 
nature,  the  very  reverse  of  that  which  we  all  bring 
into  the  world. — How  can  this  be  effected  on  the 
plan  of  Rosseau  or  his  followers  ?  It  is  plainly  im- 
possible ;  and  the  attempt  would  only  increase  the 
evils  which  education  should  remedy,  and  fill  the 
mind  with  fascinating  but  deadly  errors  which  it 
would  be  very  difficult  afterwards  to  eradicate. 

The  ends  of  education  are  to  be  attained  partly 
by  regular  lessons,  and  partly  by  attention  to  the 
child  out  of  school  hours. 

With  respect  to  lessons,  I  have  already  made  some 
remarks,  and  now  proceed  to  offer  others. 

It  is  important  that  the  lesson  should  be  learnt  in 
the  presence  of  the  teacher  for  some  years  after 
reading  commences.  A  young  child  is  too  thought- 
less, and  has  too  little  self-command,  to  be  left  by 
himself,  while  he  learns  a  lesson.     His  time  will  pro- 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION. 


79 


bably  be  mispent,  and  the  lesson  will  be  neglected, 
and  he  will  accustom  himself  to  trifle  over  his  book : 
and,  what  is  more  important,  he  will  fall  into  a  habit 
of  omitting  wJiat  he  knows  he  ought  to  do,  which 
will  naturally  be  extended  to  other  branches  of  duty ; 
and  this  failure  will,  in  all  probability,  lead  to 
another  and  a  worse  evil — namely,  that  of  making 
disingenuous  excuses,  and  even  of  telling  direct  lies, 
in  order  to  avoid  punishment. 

Another  circumstance,  nearly  allied  to  the  fore- 
going, deserves  attention.  A  parent  should  be  ready, 
if  possible,  to  hear  a  child  his  lesson  as  soon  as  he 
offers  to  say  it.  It  is  not  uncommon  with  teachers 
to  make  their  scholars  wait  as  long  as  suits  their 
own  convenience,  and  expect  them  to  be  getting 
their  lessons  better  during  this  delay.  Such  expec- 
tation is  not  at  all  rational,  and  will  almost  always 
be  disappointed.  It  is  not  easy  to  induce  a  child  to 
attend  to  his  lesson,  even  when  he  is  convinced  of 
the  impossibility  of  saying  it  unless  he  gives  his  at- 
tention. But  to  expect  continued  attention  from  him 
to  the  study  of  a  lesson  in  which  he  thinks  himself 
alread)^  perfect ;  to  expect  tliat  he  will  bestow  on  the 
lesson  time  and  labor  which  appear  to  him  superflu- 
ous, and  proceed  in  the  same  dull  round  of  getting 
and  getting  what  he  thinks  he  can  say  already,  this 
surely  is  absurd.  Is  it  not  also  an  offence  against 
that  law  of  love,  which,  while  it  demands  an  atten- 
tion to  the  feelings,  and  a  condescension  to  the 
weaknesses  of  all  mankind,  lays  us  under  a  peculiar 
and  more  pressing  obligation  to  consult  the  happi- 
ness of  our  children,  and  forbids  us  to  expect  to  oc- 


80  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

cupy  the  place  we  ought  in  their  affection  and  con- 
fidence, if  he  will  not  obey  its  dictates  ?  An  unne- 
cessary delay  in  hearing  lessons  must  tend  not  only 
to  disgust  the  scholar,  but  to  add  to  the  labors  of  the 
teacher,  who  will  generally  find  that  a  lesson  which 
would  have  been  said  ten  minutes  before  with  good 
humor  and  alacrity,  is  now  either  not  said  at  all,  or 
said  in  an  imperfect  manner,  and  with  weariness 
and  dissatisfaction.  Where  there  are  several  scho- 
lars, it  will  be  difficult  entirely  to  avoid  this  evil ; 
but  by  good  management  it  may  be  brought  within 
such  narrow  bounds  as  not  to  be  formidable.'  When 
children  become  somewhat  older,  say  eight  or  nine, 
they  may  bear  waiting  for  a  short  time  till  a  teacher 
is  ready ;  and,  under  proper  guards  against  atten- 
dant evils,  it  may  sometimes  be  even  a  useful  disci- 
pline. 

Something  will  shortly  be  said  as  to  religious 
books.  With  respect  to  others,  there  is  ample  choice 
of  proper  ones ;  but  there  is  a  still  greater  number 
of  such  as  are  improper.  Those  ought  to  be  selected 
which  are  not  so  easy  as  to  require  little,  if  any, 
mental  exertion,  nor  so  difficult  as  to  be  necessarily 
a  burthen;  which  will  be  interesting  to  the  child, 
but  not  frivolous  or  absurd,  or  bearing  a  resem- 
blance to  novels ;  which  convey  useful  instruction, 
and  which  harmonize  with  good  principles. 

Little  children  are  apt  to  contract  unnatural  tones 
in  reading,  and  also  a  low,  indistinct,  and  muttering 
articulation.  A  teacher  must  guard  against  these 
evils.  The  latter  is  best  prevented  by  placing  the 
scholar  first  at  a  little  distance,  and  by  degrees  at  a 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  81 

greater,  till  he  and  his  instructor,  each  having  a  book, 
are  removed  several  yards  asunder.  As  the  bad  ar- 
ticulation usually  arises  from  their  being  close  toge- 
ther, and  poring  over  the  same  book,  so  it  is  pre- 
vented by  changing  that  system.  The  only  objection 
to  the  course  I  propose,  is  the  interruption  to  other 
scholars  who  are  getting  lessons,  by  the  loud  voice 
of  the  one  who  is  engaged  with  the  teacher.  In  some 
cases  this  may  be  so  great  an  evil  as  to  make  that 
course  unadvisable ;  in  others,  a  little  ingenuity  in 
arrangement  will  be  necessary  to  make  it  practica- 
ble ;  and  this  will  be  cheerfully  employed,  if  its  bene- 
fits are  properly  appreciated.  Of  course,  it  cannot 
be  adopted  until  the  time  is  arrived  when  the  teacher 
is  no  longer  obliged  to  point  to  the  letter  or  word  to 
be  read  by  the  scholar. 

With  respect  to  books  of  a  strictly  religious  de- 
scription, some  further  remarks  are  necessary.  In 
using  such  books,  care  should  be  taken  to  keep  their 
great  object  constantly  in  view.  It  would  be  a  dese- 
cration of  the  awful  subject  to  use  a  book  of  this 
kind  entirely,  or  even  principally,  for  the  purpose  of 
teaching  a  child  to  read.  Such  a  proceeding  would 
be  somewhat  like  employing  a  church  for  some  com- 
mon worldly  purpose.  It  is  of  high  importance,  that 
religion  should  always  wear  her  holy  garb,  and  that 
the  youthful  mind  should  never  approach  her  but 
with  the  sentiments  wliich  she  ought  to  inspire. 
AVhatever  tends  to  dissociate  her  from  such  senti- 
ments ;  to  habituate  children  to  hear  her  truths,  or 
use  her  language,  without  such  sentiments;  does 
them  an  injury  which  it  may  be  very  difficult  to  re- 


82  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

pair.  To  speak  of  God,  his  word,  or  his  will,  with- 
out holy  reverence,  is,  I  conceive,  repugnant  to  the 
spirit  of  the  Third  Commandment,  and  therefore  a 
breach  of  it :  and  that  reverence  will  not  be  retained, 
if  books  on  such  subjects  are  taken  up  when  re- 
ligious improvement  is  not  the  leading  object. 

If  this  be  so,  let  parents  beware  of  using  such 
books  merely  as  vehicles  even  of  religious  know- 
ledge. Religious  knowledge,  wit"hout  religious  dis- 
positions will  not  impress  the  mind  with  reverence. 
The  head  may  be  stored ;  but  when  the  heart  re- 
mains cold,  Divine  Truth  not  only  fails  to  produce 
the  effect  intended  by  it,  but  tlie  mind  is  gradually 
hardened  against  right  impressions  at  a  future  time. 
To  hear  solemn  truths,  without  feeling  them,  grows 
into  a  habit.  God  forbid  that  any  approach  to  so 
awful  a  state  should  be  contemplated  with  indiffer- 
ence !  We  all  know  how  tremendous  it  is,  as  exhib- 
ited in  the  case  of  some  loud  but  hollow  professors 
of  religion.  We  also  may  have  seen  or  heard  of 
instances  of  desperate  obduracy  in  persons  who  have 
grown  old  in  assisting  in  the  outward  services  of  re- 
ligion, without  yielding  to  its  power.  How  attentive, 
then,  should  parents  be  to  the  frame  of  their  own 
minds,  and  how  desirous  of  promoting  a  devout 
spirit  in  those  of  their  children,  when  the  reading  or 
conversation  is  on  religious  subjects !  Let  them  en- 
deavor to  make  it  a  holy  exercise  to  both  parties. 
Let  them  endeavor  to  exclude  a  curious,  or  a  ca- 
villing, or  a  controversial,  no  less  than  a  formal 
spirit,  in  the  little  beings  to  whom  they  are  opening 
the  heavenly  path.     Let  them  be  quite  in  earnest  in 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  83 

making  their  lessons  lessons  of  humility,  reverence, 
modesty,  devotedness  to  God,  and  trust  in  him,  and 
love  of  him,  as  well  as  lessons  of  religious  truth. 
Then,  with  the  Divine  blessing,  will  a  beautiful 
harmony  exist  between  the  head  and  the  heart.  Then 
will  parents  have  the  highest  gratification  which 
they  can  enjoy  as  parents ;  that  of  seeing  their 
charge  make  sensible  progress  towards  perfect  men 
and  women  in  Christ,  and  grow  in  favor  both  with 
God  and  man. 

But  among  the  books  to  which  these  remarks  may 
apply,  the  holy  Scriptures  are  beyond  comparison 
pre-eminent.  They  never  should  be  approached  but 
with  deep  reverence  for  the  Divine  Author,  and  a 
deep  sense  of  their  inestimable  value.  When  em- 
ployed in  reading  them,  the  parent  should  set  an 
example  sometimes  of  short  aspirations  to  God, 
(short,  simple,  and  modest,  but  from  the  heart,)  for 
his  blessing,  and  always  of  a  devout  spirit ;  and  the 
very  book  should  be  used  and  preserved  with  more 
than  ordinary  care.  Somewhat  of  the  temper  of 
mind  inculcated  on  Moses,  "Put  off  thy  shoes 
from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest 
is  holy  ground,"  should  be  sought  and  cherished  on 
such  occasions.  In  order  the  better  to  instil  and  pre- 
serve a  proper  reverence  for  the  Bible,  I  would  re- 
commend the  not  beginning  to  read  either  the  Old  or 
the  New  Testament  with  children  before  their  general 
respect  for  religion,  and  their  progress  in  self-com- 
mand, afford  reasonable  security  that  they  will  con- 
duct themselves  rightly  while  so  engaged.  They 
should  also  have  attained  some  facility  in  reading, 


84  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

that  the  difficulties  they  find  in  a  sentence  may  not 
so  far  occupy  tlieir  attention  as  not  to  leave  it  suffi- 
ciently disengaged  for  the  attaining  of  the  spiritual 
advantages  which  ought  to  be  the  great  object  in 
view.  Wlien  they  do  begin  to  read  the  Scriptures, 
let  those  parts  be  carefully  selected  which  they  can 
best  understand,  and  which  are  most  likely  to  interest 
them ;  and  let  the  readings  always  be  short,  and  be 
held  out  rather  as  a  favor  than  as  a  task,  and  always 
as  a  religious  duty. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  religious  book  with  which  it  is 
better  to  begin  than  Watts's  Hymns  for  Children. 
They  are  very  simple  and  attractive,  and  contain 
(if  I  may  so  say)  a  body  of  sound  nursery  divinity ; 
and  this  is  presented  in  such  a  dress  as  to  gratify  the 
imagination,  and  affect  the  heart  while  it  informs  the 
understanding.  Some  of  these  hymns  may  with 
great  advantage  be  gradually  taught  to  children 
from  the  mouth  of  the  parent  before  they  can  be 
read.  This  work  may  commence  even  before  a  child 
knows  his  letters.  It  cannot,  however,  be  conducted 
too  tenderly,  and  scarcely  too  gradually.  Very  great 
care  should  be  taken  not  to  disgust  the  little  one 
with  that  occupation.  He  should  never  have  rehgion 
brought  before  him  but  with  a  smiling  though  a  se- 
rious aspect; — such  an  aspect  as  may  invite  to  a 
further  acriuaintance.  These  hymns  should  be  care- 
fully explained,  as  they  are  learned,  and  in  a  tone, 
and  with  little  illustrations,  and  with  gentle  but  lively 
applications  to  the  experience  and  conscience  of  the 
scholar,  all  congenial  with  the  sphit  of  Watts's 
poetry :  and  they  should  continue  a  standing  book 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDU(  ATION.  85 

until  all  of  them  have  been  learned  and  repeated 
(and  never  without  appropriate  observations  from 
the  parent)  two  or  three  times  over. 

Some  short  and  easy  Bible  History  (as  Mrs.  Trim- 
mer's) is  very  useful  as  soon  as  the  child  can  read 
with  tolerable  ease.  It  will  convey  some  general 
idea  of  the  longer  narratives ;  and  while  it  will  fur- 
nish useful  lessons  at  the  time,  and  give  the  parent  a 
wider  range  in  his  illustrations,  and  in  his  appeals 
to  the  conduct  of  others  either  in  the  way  of  example 
or  of  warning  in  his  incidental  conversations  with 
the  child,  it  will  prepare  the  way  for  readhig  the 
Bible  itself  at  a  rather  later  period  with  more  advan- 
tage. The  different  parts  of  a  long  historical  narra- 
tion, interrupted  often  by  digressions  in  the  Sacred 
Volume,  will  thus  be  more  easily  kept  in  the  memory 
so  as  to  form  a  whole  in  the  child's  mind  as  he  pro- 
ceeds. There  is  another  history  of  the  Bible  of  a 
higher  class,  which  has  great  merit,  and  will  be 
found  extremely  useful  in  its  proper  season.  Its 
title  is,  "  The  History  of  the  Bible  in  familiar  Dia- 
logues, by  a  Lady,"  4  vols.  12mo.  printed  for  and  sold 
by  Gardiner,  19,  Prince's  Street,  Cavendish  Square. 
This  is  a  work  which  combines  solid  instruction  and 
sound  views  of  religion  with  that  share  of  dialogue, 
and  that  ease  of  manner  and  style,  which  are  plea- 
sant to  children.  Parents  are  much  indebted  to  the 
authoress. 

As  to  catechisms,  it  is  best  to  begin  with  Watts's, 
which  are  far  better  calculated  for  very  young  chil- 
dren than  the  admirable  one  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land.    They  should  be  learnt,  like  his  hymns,  very 


86  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

gradually,  and  with  explanations  and  illustrations. 
His  first  is  adapted  to  a  child  just  beginning  to  put 
letters  together ;  and  his  second  to  one  two  to  three 
years  older. 

To  the  second  will  succeed  our  Church  Catechism. 
It  appears  to  me  a  sad  mistake  to  make  children  say 
this  by  heart,  without  suitable  explanations  and  re- 
marks from  the  teacher.  When  this  course  is  fol- 
lowed (and  it  is  too  common)  the  child  generally 
understands  very  imperfectly  what  he  is  repeating ; 
the  repetition,  it  is  to  be  feared,  is  accompanied 
by  no  devotional  feelings  or  self-appUcation ;  and 
as  far  as  the  child  does  attend  to  the  sense  of  what 
he  is  saying,  there  is  reason  to  apprehend  that  the 
evils  will  accrue  which  have  been  already  noticed 
as  flowing  from  religious  truths  passing  through  the 
mind  without  making  religious  impressions  on  the 
heart.  To  avoid  such  evils,  and  to  derive  from  the 
catechism  the  good  it  was  intended  to  convey,  it  is 
advisable,  I  think,  to  divide  it  into  four  or  five  parts : 
and  to  let  one  part  be  said  every  Sunday,  (or  oftener,) 
and  made  a  ground  work  for  considerable  explana- 
tions and  illustrations.  Questions  will  be  put  to  the 
children,  to  try  how  far  they  understand  what  they 
have  been  saying,  and  are  acquainted  with  those 
parts  of  Scripture  which  have  a  close  connexion 
with  it.  Their  answers  should  be  kindly  elicited, 
and  kindly  treated.  They  will  often  be  erroneous, 
and  generally  crude  and  imperfect ;  but  instead  of 
being  forward  to  find  fault,  the  teacher  should  give 
what  encouragement  he  properly  can,  and  gently 
and  often  indirectly,  coiTect  errors  and  supply  de- 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION'.  87 

ficiencies  by  his  amplification  and  illustration  of  an 
answer,  and  by  his  further  questions  on  the  subject. 
He  should  not  only  be  willing  to  answer  questions 
himself,  but  should  rather  invite  them ;  taking  care, 
however,  not  to  be  materially  drawn  away  from  his 
object,  or  led  into  desultory  conversation.  The 
whole,  on  his  part,  should  be  marked  by  Christian 
seriousness,  attempered  by  parental  love  and  conde- 
scension.   He  should  be 

Much  impressed 
Himself,  as  conscious  of  his  awful  charge, 
And  anxious  mainly  that  the  flock  he  feeds 
May  feel  it  too  :  affectionate  in  look, 
And  tender  in  address. 

But  care  must  be  taken  that  the  conversation  or 
lecture  (whichever  it  may  be  called)  shall  not  harrass 
or  agitate,  but  wear  a  soft  and  smiling  dress,  and 
rather  slide  gently  into  the  heart  than  seize  and  appal 
it.  The  new  situations  and  circumstances  which 
his  children  respectively  have  before  them,  with  their 
attendant  temptations,  wants,  advantages,  and  du- 
ties, will  be  borne  in  mind,  and  have  considerable 
influence  as  to  the  turn  he  will  give  to  his  discourse. 
They  will  suggest  much  information  to  be  commu- 
nicated, much  advice,  many  warnings,  and  much 
encouragement. 

The  parent  will  also  have  an  eye  to  the  present 
faults  and  defects  of  the  individuals  of  his  little  au- 
dience, and  he  will  now  and  then  openly  speak  of 
them ;  but  he  will  always  execute  this  part  of  his 
duty  with  delicacy  and  tenderness,  and  qualify  what 


88  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

he  says  by  introducing,  when  he  honestly  can,  some 
commendation  of  those  whose  faults  he  mentions, 
and  always  by  laying  a  stress  on  the  means  of  im- 
provement, and  on  the  grounds  of  hope  that  such 
means  will  be  employed.  Such  a  mention  of  faults 
is  useful :  but  it  must  be  managed  with  some  ad- 
dress, and  with  a  careful  attention  to  the  disposition 
of  the  child ;  or  it  may  be  revolting,  and  do  mischief, 
especially,  if  other  children  are  present.  I  have  al- 
ways found  these  catechetical  conversations  pleasant 
to  children,  and  highly  beneficial.  As  the  little  circle 
becomes  older  and  better  informed  on  religious  sub- 
jects, the  illustration  and  application  of  the  several 
heads  will  become  more  extensive,  and  the  several 
divisions  of  the  catechism  as  they  are  repeated  in 
their  turns,  may  be  considered  as  each  consisting-  of 
two  parts,  which  may  be  alternately  the  subjects  of 
comment.  Thus,  if  the  first  parts  are  the  special 
objects  of  attention  in  one  course  of  these  lectures, 
the  second  parts  will  be  so  in  the  next  course ;  and 
the  same  portion  will  recur  for  illustration  only  on 
every  eighth  or  tenth  Sunday,  or  five  or  six  times  in 
the  year.  This  plan  will  afford  a  pleasing  variety 
to  older  pupils  and  yet  bring  each  part  of  the  cate- 
chism sufficiently  often  under  review.  I  usually 
continue  these  lectures  with  my  children  till  they  are 
fifteen  or  older. 

It  may  be  proper  here  to  introduce  some  re- 
marks on  the  importance,  and  on  the  best  means, 
of  fixing  passages  of  Scripture  in  the  memory  of 
children. 

T  fear  it  is  too  common  to  be  satisfied  with  a  less 


OF    CHRiSTlAN    EDUCATION.  89 

intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Word  of  God  than 
becomes  creatures  to  whom  so  inestimable  a  trea- 
sure is  given.  The  Bible  is  at  hand,  and  is  often, 
perhaps  is  regularly,  read.  Its  different  parts  are 
recognised  as  old  acquaintance  on  each  re-perusal ; 
and  they  are  not  passed  over  without  care  and  at- 
tention. In  this  way  a  foundation  is  laid,  with  the 
Divine  blessing,  of  sound  religious  knowledge,  and 
of  solid  piety.  Still,  however,  there  is  often  but  little 
readiness  in  producing  from  memory  the  very  ex- 
pressions of  Scrijiture.  There  is  a  wide  departure 
from  tlie  spirit  of  the  directions  given  to  the  Israel- 
ites : — "  And  these  words,  which  I  command  thee  this 
day,  shall  be  in  thine  heart :  and  thou  shalt  teach 
them  diligently  unto  thy  children,  and  thou  shalt 
talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thine  house,  and 
when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou  liest 
down,  and  when  thou  risest  up.  And  thou  shalt 
bind  them  for  a  sign  upon  thine  hand,  and  they  shall 
be  as  frontlets  between  thine  eyes.  And  thou  shalt 
write  them  upon  the  posts  of  thy  house,  and  on  thy 
gates."*  And  yet  on  an  ability  to  produce  the  very 
words  of  Scripture  promptly  and  correctly,  from  the 
stores  of  memory,  depends  often  our  right  and  ready 
application  of  this  our  Divine  Rule,  both  in  directing 
our  own  course  through  life,  and  in  giving  useful 
advice  to  those  about  us.  Have  not  we  all  felt  the 
prodigious  advantage  of  an  apposite  passage  of 
Scripture  striking  the  mind  on  occasions  when  temp- 
tation has  pressed  upon  us,  or  when  we  have  doubted 

*  Deut.  vi.  6—9. 
I  2 


90  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

as  to  the  course  we  ought  to  pursue  ?  Nor  is  the 
advantage  less,  when  we  can  support  our  advice  to 
others  by  the  very  words  of  Holy  Writ.  But  the 
benefits  resulting  from  this  knowledge  of  Scripture 
are  by  no  means  confined  to  such  occasions.  They 
extend  to  the  general  frame  of  the  soul,  and  to  its 
growth  in  grace ;  and,  in  this  point  of  view,  are  far 
more  important  than  in  any  other.  What  a  rich 
treasury  for  a  supply  of  holy  thoughts,  and  for  the 
cultivation  of  holy  affections,  with  the  Divine  aid, 
does  that  man  possess,  whose  mind  is  well  stored 
with  the  Word  of  God !  To  him  "  nunquam  minus 
solus  quam  cum  solus"*  will  be  emphatically  appli- 
cable. No  lonely  walk  will  be  dull  to  him.  Even 
sleepless  hours  on  his  bed  will  seldom  pass  unplea- 
santly, but  will  be  marked  by  a  heavenly  calm,  if 
not  also  by  filial  joy.  How  often,  when  thus  em- 
ployed, will  he  find  time  slide  swiftly  away,  and  be 
surprised  to  find  the  morning  break  on  him  much 
sooner  than  he  expected !  But  these  gratifications, 
though  so  pure  and  substantial,  are  of  small  value 
compared  with  the  gradual  transfonnation  of  soul 
which,  through  the  Divine  blessing,  will  accompany 
them.  Perhaps  nothing  human  promotes  more  pow- 
erfully a  renewal  in  the  Divine  image,  especially  in 
persons  of  active  pursuits,  than  a  habit  of  gently 
dwelling,  in  hours  of  solitude  and  retirement,  on 
such  portions  of  the  Divine  W^ord  as  best  suit  ex- 
isting circumstances  and  the  existing  temper  of  the 
mind. 

*  Never  less  alone,  than  when  alone. 


OF    CHRISTIAX    EDUCATION.  91 

This  exercise 

Luxurientia  compescet,  nimis  aspera  sano 
Levabit  cultu,  virtute  carentia  toilet.* 

All  that  is  within  will  be  purified,  harmonized, 
cheered,  and  elevated ;  and  it  is  apparent  how  much 
a  frequent  recurrence  of  such  an  inward  frame 
must  tend  to  form  a  new  creature. 

I  may  have  an  undue  partiality  for  this  mode  of 
employing  the  thoughts  in  religion ;  but  I  must  say, 
I  greatly  prefer  it  to  suffering  them  to  roam  at  will, 
and  pour  themselves  forth  in  extemporaneous  effu- 
sions. When  so  let  loose,  they  are  apt  to  be  more 
under  the  guidance  of  human  passions,  and  are 
more  likely  to  run  into  superstition  or  enthusiasm. 
At  all  events,  it  can  scarcely  be  hoped  that  the  pic- 
tures they  present  to  the  soul  will  be  so  innoxious,  so 
pure,  so  dignified,  and  so  edifying,  as  those  which 
are  found  in  the  inspired  records  of  the  communi- 
cations of  God  to  man. 

In  order  to  enjoy  the  full  benefit  of  this  species 
of  religious  contemplation,  our  knowledge  of  scrip- 
ture must  be  extensive  and  accurate.  It  will  not 
answer  the  purpose  to  be  master  of  a  few  passages ; 
or  to  be  acquainted  with  many,  but  only  in  a  loose 
and  imperfect  way.  The  power  of  selection  should 
be  as  extensive  as  the  occasions  which  call  for  it, 
and  the  dispositions  of  the  soul,  are  various  ;  and 

*  Checks  the  luxuriant  shoots  of  vice,  and  smootlis, 
By  culture  sound,  the  roughness  we  retain 
From  nature's  quarry  ;  and  the  heart  refines 
From  all  not  virtuous. 


9-2  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

when  a  passage  is  selected,  we  ought  to  be  able  to 
make  use  of  it  without  mistake  or  difficulty. 

Now,  how  will  this  knowledge  of  Scripture  be 
best  attained  ?  Beyond  all  doubt,  by  learning  much 
by  heart  during  the  period  of  youth.  I  have  heard 
a  gentleman,  very  eminent  for  ability  and  for  biblical 
knowledge,  say,  that  he  remembers  no  part  of  his 
•Bible  so  well  as  verses  which  he  got  by  heart  when 
a  boy,  as  proofs  of  the  different  positions  in  the 
Church  Catechism.  It  is  in  youth  that  the  memory 
is  most  retentive  ;  and  the  stores  it  then  lays  up 
are  the  least  subject  to  loss  or  decay  from  the  lapse 
of  time.  Like  certain  flowers  gathered  at  a  proper 
season  for  preservation,  they  retain,  even  to  a  late 
period,  much  of  their  original  freshness;  while 
passages  learnt  in  after-hfe  are  apt  to  fade,  and 
escape  altogether  out  of  the  mind,  if  not  frequently 
reinstated  by  repetition.  Besides,  by  beginning 
early,  there  is  ample  time  for  laying  in  a  large 
store  of  the  more  important  parts  of  Scripture ;  and 
what  is  learnt  will  take  deeper  root,  not  only  in  the 
memory,  but  in  the  affections,  and  become  more, 
if  I  may  so  say,  a  part  of  ourselves.  The  impres- 
sions thus  received  will,  with  God's  blessing, 

*'  Grow  with  our  growth,  and  strengthen  with  our  strength," 

and  contribute  essentially  to  the  formation,  in  due 
time,  of  the  perfect  man  in  Christ. 

In  order  to  acquire  this  knowledge,  let  children 
learn  a  certain  portion  of  Scripture  every  day,  and 
say   it  to  one  of  their  parents.     The  number  of 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDTTATION.  93 

verses  appointed  to  be  learnt,  should  not  be  such  as 
to  make  this  business  burthensome.  When  the 
passage  is  repeated,  it  should  not  only  be  explained, 
(if  necessary,)  but  pains  should  be  taken  to  lead  the 
young  person  to  enter  into  its  spirit,  and  to  be  pro- 
perly affected  by  it.  Without  this,  little  is  attained. 
It  will  soon  be  neglected  and  nearly  forgotten,  when 
the  superintending  care  of  the  parent  no  longer 
keeps  it  in  the  memory  by  fresh  repetitions.  Such 
repetitions  are  very  important  parts  of  the  system. 
They  should  take  place  at  considerable  intervals, 
say  every  six  or  nine  months  with  the  younger 
children,  who  are  still,  at  other  times,  making  daily 
additions  to  their  stock  of  Scripture-passages  ;  and 
every  year,  or  year  and  a  half,  with  the  elder  ones, 
who  are  no  longer  making  such  additions  systema- 
tically, though  a  passage  which  happens  to  strike 
them  will  now  and  then  be  added  to  those  they  had 
learnt  before.  Every  repetition  should  be  attended 
by  affectionate  and  familiar  conversations,  calcu- 
lated to  lead  to  such  feelings  and  dispositions  as  the 
passages  respectively  ought  to  excite.  If  this  is 
done  with  tenderness,  and  with  due  attention  to  the 
age,  acquirements,  and  natural  temperament  of  the 
children,  and  with  a  care  to  avoid  whatever  may 
make  the  employment  irksome  or  harrassing,  a 
parent  will  seldom  find  any  of  his  children  attend 
him  on  such  occasions  with  reluctance,  but  will  ge- 
nerally see  in  their  countenances  and  manner  marks 
of  interest  and  satisfaction. 

It  is  possible,  that  the  young  and  the  diffident 
may  sometimes  fancy  that  they  shall  find  some  dif- 


94  A    PRACTICAL    VIEAV 

iiculty  in  fixing  on  passages  for  their  children  to 
learn  ;  and  this  may  be  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
adopting  the  course  I  have  ventured  to  recommend. 
Let  them  make  the  attempt,  and  they  will  succeed 
sufficiently  well.  However,  as  they  may  think 
otherwise,  I  will  put,  in  the  Appendix,  a  collection 
of  passages  from  the  New  Testament,  which  I  have 
known  to  be  used  in  a  young  family  with  good  ef- 
fect. Great  nicety  is  not  requisite  in  a  selection  of 
this  kind. 

Two  cautions,  however,  may  be  necessary  in 
making  a  selection. 

Avoid  passages  which  have  a  very  direct  bearing 
on  abstruse  and  much-controverted  points. — Chil- 
dren ought  not  to  be  puzzled  in  religion.  In  this 
sense,  as  in  others,  spiritual  milk,  and  not  strong 
meat,  is  their  proper  food.  The  great  aim  should 
be  to  make,  by  Divine  aid,  their  heavenly  Father, 
and  their  Sanctifier,  but,  above  all,  their  Saviour 
and  his  Gospel,  the  objects  of  their  reverence  and 
of  their  affections  ;  and  this  end  will  be  greatly 
counteracted  by  fatiguing  and  bewildering  their 
understanding.  When  difficulties  occur  to  them- 
selves, or  are  so  far  connected  with  the  subject  before 
them  that  they  cannot  be  entirely  passed  over,  it 
appears  to  me  best  to  avoid  entering  minutely  into 
them,  but  to  show,  that  from  the  infinite  distance 
between  God  and  man,  difficulties,  and  insuperable 
difficulties,  must  necessarily  be  expected,  when  God 
vouchsafes,  to  his  creatures  any  communication 
respecting  his  own  nature,  and  his  own  govern- 
ment.   Nor  is  it  less  important  to  avoid  contro- 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION. 


verted,  than  to  avoid  abstruse  points  : — indeed,  those 
which  are  abstruse  are  generally  controverted.  Con- 
troversy subjects  vital  religion  in  adults  to  eminent 
danger,  unless  they  are  very  advanced  and  eminent 
Christians,  and  even  then  it  is  not  without  its  perils : 
and,  in  my  opinion,  it  never  ought  to  be  undertaken, 
except  in  cases  of  necessity,  or  pushed  beyond  that 
necessity.  But  in  the  case  of  children,  with  such 
weak  intellects,  such  shallow  knowledge,  such  lively 
and  ill-regulated  imaginations  and  feelings,  and, 
above  all,  with  religious  principles  and  habits  so 
extremely  frail  and  imperfect,  it  must  humanly 
speaking,  be  fatal  to  all  that  is  good. 

In  general,  do  not  select  those  addresses  to  God 
which  are  likely  to  be  considered  by  the  child  as 
intended  to  be  used  by  himself  in  hfting  his  thoughts 
to  Heaven.  However  edifying  these  may  be  to 
persons  more  advanced  in  the  Christian  course,  as 
expressing  in  the  language  of  Inspiration  their  de- 
vout breathings  of  soul,  they  are  unfit  and  unsafe 
for  children.  It  cannot  be  supposed,  that  the  lan- 
guage which  suited  the  religious  affections  of  David, 
will  suit  those  of  a  child,  who  is  just  beginning  that 
spiritual  course,  in  which  David  had  made  so  extra- 
ordinary a  progress,  as  to  be  "  a  man  after  God's 
own  heart."  And,  if  David's  language  is  unfit,  it 
must  be  unsafe,  for  a  child.  Nothing  is  more  im- 
portant in  religion,  than  modesty,  simplicity,  and 
godly  sincerity  :  and  it  is  evident,  that  addresses  to 
the  Deity,  or  expressions  of  inward  feelings,  which 
go  at  all  beyond  what  the  actual  state  of  ovir  souls 
would  naturally  prompt,  are  not  compatible  with 


96  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

those  estimable  qualities.  Nay,  I  confess,  that  even 
in  adults,  and  much  more  in  children,  I  am  better 
pleased  when  the  outward  manifestations  of  devo- 
tion evidently  fall  somewhat  short  of  the  internal 
impressions.  By  proceeding  in  an  opposite  course, 
many,  T  believe,  have  been  led  to  direct  hypocrisy, 
and  many  more  have  become  self-deceivers.  Where 
there  appears  to  be,  if  not  a  sort  of  contest  who 
shall  use  the  most  fervent  expressions,  at  least  an 
endeavor,  while  engaged  in  religious  exercises  or 
conversation,  to  work  up  the  feelings  to  a  high 
pitch,  and  to  express  them  in  words  to  the  full  as 
warm  and  glowing,  who  does  not  see  that  we  are 
in  danger  of  endeavoring  to  appear  to  others,  and 
in  most  eminent  danger  of  appearing  to  ourselves, 
more  spiritual  and  devout  than  we  really  are.? 
Look  at  the  concise  modesty  of  the  address  of  the 
justified  Publican,  and  at  the  beautiful  simplicity 
of  the  Lord's  Prayer  ;  and  compare  them  with  the 
exuberant,  if  not  the  extravagant,  style  too  often 
met  with  in  human  devotional  compositions,  and 
still  more  in  extemporaneous  prayers. 


or    CHRISTIAN     EDUf  ATION.  97 


CHAP.  V. 


Mechanical  Reading  : — how  obviated  —  School- Lessons 
to  promote  Moral  Qualities  : — Obedience  ;  Regula- 
rity ;  Attention  ;  Patience  ;  Alacrity.  —  Happy 
Fruits  of  these  Qualities. —  Failures  to  be  expected. 
— Hoiv  to  be  borne. 

It  often  happens  that  reading  is  made  too  mecha- 
nical. If  the  words  are  properly  pronounced,  and 
attention  is  paid  to  the  stops,  and  the  parts  of  the 
sentence  are  put  together  ^vith  tolerable  propriety, 
the  teacher  rests  satisfied,  though  the  understanding 
of  the  scholar  has  been  httle  employed.  This  is 
very  generally  the  course  with  village  school- 
masters, and  many  parents  of  good  education  too 
nearly  approach  it.  Even  the  mere  reading,  were 
this  alone  the  object,  as  it  often  is  in  a  village 
school,  can  never  be  good  when  the  mind  does  not 
thoroughly  enter  into  the  sense  ;  but  that  parents, 
whose  views  extend  much  farther,  should  ever  ac- 
quiesce in  their  children's  pronouncing  sentences 
somewhat  like  parrots,  and  missing  a  large  portion 
at  least  of  the  information  and  improvement  which 
it  was  the  intention  of  the  author  to  convey,  is 
really  surprising.  When  this  kind  of  reading  is 
permitted,  I  believe  it  is  owing  in  a  good  measure 
to  their  not  being  aware  how  imperfectly  their  little 
scholars  understand  what  is  so  plain  to  themselves. 


08  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

The  evil  in  question  is  of  far  greater  importance 
than  may  at  first  appear.  The  child  is  led  into  a 
habit  of  reading  without  thinking,  and  of  resting 
contented  with  a  very  confused  notion  of  what  is 
read.  Scarcely  any  thing  can  be  a  greater  obstacle 
to  the  acquisition  of  sound  and  useful  knowledge, 
and  of  vigorous  habits  of  investigation.  If  these  are 
not  acquired,  the  mind  will  generally  become  a  prey 
to  frivolity  and  intellectual  idleness  ;  and  it  is  well 
if  it  do  not  also  resign  itself  to  low  pursuits,  and 
sensual  indulgence.  As  one  antidote,  through 
Divine  grace,  to  these  most  unchristian  and  often 
fatal  evils,  let  a  child  always  be  made,  as  soon  as 
he  can  read  a  sentence,  to  understand  what  he 
reads,  and  to  give  an  account  of  it  afterwards.  In 
order  to  effect  the  latter  object,  when  his  reading 
has  been  more  than  three  or  four  lines,  let  him  take 
his  book  and  look  it  over,  and  give  the  account 
when  he  finds  himself  prepared.  The  parent  must 
not  expect  this  to  be  given  without  leading  questions 
to  draw  it  forth  ;  aud  he  will  think  it  an  important 
office  to  make  this  part  of  the  business  pleasant  to 
his  scholar,  by  smoothing  difficulties,  making  the 
best  of  imperfect  answers,  and  interspersing  the 
whole  with  suitable  illustrations  and  moral  re- 
marks, in  a  tone  and  manner  favorable  to  the 
right  feelings  of  his  pupil,  and  likely  to  exclude 
wrong  ones,  or  to  administer  a  gentle  cure  to  such 
as  may  be  rising.  So  also,  whatever  is  to  be  got  by 
heart,  should  always  be  previously  read,  explained, 
illustrated,  and  (if  I  may  so  say)  practically  applied. 
But  the  parent  ought  always  to  bear  in  mind,  that 


or    CHRISTIAX    EDUCATION.  99 

every  lesson  is  as  truly  a  lessen  in  the  moral  qua- 
lities to  be  acquired  and  strengthened  by  its  being 
properly  learnt,  and  properly  said,  as  it  is  in  the 
branch  of  knowledge  to  which  it  relates.  Those 
qualities  are  of  a  very  high  order,  and  the  cha- 
racter in  future  life  depends  extremely  on  the  pro- 
gress made  in  their  acquisition  during  early  youth.  I 
will  particularize  five  of  them  :  obedience,  regularity, 
attention,  patience,  and  alacrity.  These  ought  to  be 
in  exercise  during  every  lesson  ;  and  a  proper  re- 
gard to  them  in  the  pupil  during  school-hours,  will 
do  much,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  towards 
making  them  habitual. 

1.  Obedience. — I  well  remember  being  much  im- 
pressed by  a  sermon  about  twenty  years  ago, 
when  I  was  a  young  father,  in  which  the  preacher 
said,  that  were  he  to  select  one  word  as  the  most 
important  in  education,  it  should  be  the  word  "  obey." 
My  experience  since  has  fully  convinced  me  of  the 
justice  of  the  remark.  Without  filial  obedience, 
every  thing  must  go  wrong  :  with  it,  if  the  parent 
has  right  views  of  his  duty,  and  is  consistent  in  his 
practice,  notwithstanding  present  appearances  may 
be  very  unpromising,  every  thing  may  not  impro- 
bably become  right.  Is  not  a  disobedient  child 
guilty  of  a  manifest  and  habitual  breach  of  the 
Fifth  Commandment  ?  And  is  it  not  a  parent,  who 
sufiers  this  disobedience  to  continue  when  he  knows 
he  is  armed  with  sufficient  power  to  overcome  it, 
an  habitual  partaker  in  his  child's  offence  against 
that  commandment  ?  How  can  those  who  are  thus 
criminal  hope  for  God's   blessing  on   any  part   of 


ICO  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

their  conduct  ?   and,  without  that  blessing,  what  can 
they  expect  but  a  progress   from  bad  to  worse  ? 
Besides,  without  obedience,  there  will  be  no  respect 
for  the  parent ;  but  he  will  be  the  object  of  disregard, 
and  even  of  a  portion  of  contempt.     He  will  be 
treated   slightingly  ;  his  opinion  will  be  criticised ; 
his  judgement  will  be  questioned  ;  and  the  very  en- 
(  eavors  he  uses  to  lead  his  son  to  better  sentiment  s 
will  probably  produce  more  harm  than  good.     1 5 
it  surprising,  that  under  the  Divine  government, 
the  enforcing  of  obedience  should  be  so  essential  a 
duty  of  parents,  when  the  whole  tenor  of  Scripture 
shows  us,  that  obedience  is  the  very  groundwork  of 
Chistianity  ?    The  natural  propensity   of  man   to 
shake  off  the  yoke  of  legitimate  authority,  is  the 
disposition  most  adverse  to  God   and  his  service. 
By  the  disobedience  of  our  first  parents,  sin  came 
into  the  world ;  and  through  the  obedience  of  the 
Second  Adam,  are  the  gates  of  heaven  opened  to 
true  believers.     The  wicked  are  emphatically  styled, 
"  the  children  of  disobedience  :"   and  it  is  clearly 
the  primary  object  of  the  Divine  plan  of  salvation 
to  concjuer  the  rebellious  spirit  of  man  and  to  bring 
him  into  a  state  of  humility  and  submission.     Pa- 
rental authority  is  one  powerful  instrument  for  ef- 
fecting this  change.     It  is  intended  to  bend  the  stub- 
born will,  to  repress  froward  humors,  and  by  habitu- 
ating a  child  to  subjection  to  earthly    parents,  to 
prepare  him  for  Christian  obedience  to  his  heavenly 
Father.     In  proportion   as    filial  obedience  is  cal- 
culated to  smooth  the  way  for  true  religion,  filial 
disobedience  must  produce  the  opposite  effect.     The 


CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  101 

parent  who  habitually  gives  way  to  it,  has  appalling 
reason  to  apprehend  that  he  is  educating  his  child 
not  for  heaven,  but  for  hell.  His  labors  for  its 
good  may  be  many  and  great ;  but  what  produce 
can  he  expect  from  such  a  soil  ?  The  heart,  poisoned 
by  pride  and  selfishness,  will  be  removed  very  far 
indeed  from  that  "  honest  and  good  heart "  in 
which  the  seed  produces  "  thirty,  sixty,  a  hundred 
fold."  I  have  been  induced  to  dwell  the  longer  on 
this  subject,  from  having  observed  many  good  peo- 
ple fail  to  require  regularly  and  steadily  prompt 
obedience  from  their  children.  This  failure  pro- 
ceeds, I  think,  principally  from  that  affection,  and 
that  sauvity  of  manners,  which  are  the  genuine 
fruits  of  Christianity  :  but  partly  from  a  perversion 
of  the  Christian  tenet,  that  "  God  alone  is  the  Author 
of  all  good,"  inducing,  or  rather  tempting,  them  to 
leave  to  Him,  with  too  little  effort  on  their  part,  as  his 
instruments,  the  cure  of  those  evils  against  which 
they  find  it  most  irksome  to  contend.  Let  them, 
however,  recollect  that  Jesus  Christ,  our  model, 
united  the  most  determined  and  invincible  resolu- 
tion with  more  than  human  love  ;  and  personal  ex- 
ertions, almost  too  great  for  his  mortal  frame,  with 
perfect  reliance  on  the  Divine  Power. 

2.  Regulanty. — Whoever  has  observed  its  high  im- 
portance in  human  concerns,  and  the  natural  pro- 
pensity of  man  to  be  changeful  and  desultory,  will 
enforce  its  observance  in  his  system  of  education. 
Man  is  formed  to  attain  to  far  higher  powers  than 
those  with  which  he  is  naturally  endowed,  and  to 
reach  far  higher  objects  than  those  which  appear  to 

K  2 


102  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

be  within  his  grasp.  But  these  can  only  be  obtained 
by  continued  and  progressive  efforts,  which  carry 
him  on  from  step  to  step,  till,  from  a  state  little 
differing  from  tliat  of  the  brutes,  he  arrives  at  one 
which  exhibits  strong  marks  of  his  divine  original, 
and  no  slight  prognostics  of  a  high  destination.  In 
such  a  course,  regularity  is  absolutely  necessary. 
Without  it,  the  greatest  human  exertions  will  be 
productive  of  comparatively  little  good ;  and  how- 
ever they  may  sometimes  astonish  the  beholders, 
they  will  rather  resemble  the  extraordinary  leaps 
of  a  wild  animal,  than  the  steady  pace  of  the  do- 
mesticated horse,  which  carries  the  rider  to  the 
end  of  a  long  journey.  And  yet  how  unwilling  is 
man  to  submit  to  the  rules  and  restraints  indis- 
pensable to  success  in  his  best  pursuits  !  He  is 
fond  of  novelty ;  fond  of  ease ;  and  loves,  if  active, 
rather  to  riot  in  the  wanton  and  capricious  exer- 
cise of  his  powers  ;  and,  if  of  a  quiet  disposition, 
rather  to  waste  them  in  sloth,  than  to  make  a  steady 
and  well-directed  use  of  them  and  reap  the  rich 
fruit  of  their  legitimate  exertion.  To  counteract 
this  propensity,  and  give  the  habits  a  right  direc- 
tion, must  be  one  of  the  objects  of  education.  But 
this  work  must  be  carried  on  witli  moderation, 
and,  for  a  few  of  the  first  years  of  the  period  un- 
der review,  the  parent  must  be  content  to  let  re- 
gularity be  interrupted  by  a  variety  of  little  cir- 
cumstances already  noticed,  when  its  observance 
would  be  particularly  trying  to  the  child  ;  but  it 
ought  to'  bo  his  endeavor  to  shorten  this  period 
as  much  as  he  properly  can,  and  at  length  to  re- 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  1-0$ 

duce  his  system  to  strict  order  and  method.  The 
hours  of  business  must  be  regular,  and  tlie  lessons 
regular :  regularly  got,  and  regularly  said.  This  re- 
gularity will  be  found  not  more  favorable  to  the 
acquiring  of  knowledge,  than  to  the  subduing  of 
selfishness,  and  the  wayward  humors  which  attend 
it,  and  to  the  growth  of  self-command  and  self- 
denial,  and  to  the  practical  elevation  of  a  sense  of 
duty  above  all  the  allurements  of  external  objects 
or  vagrant  fancies. 

3.  Attention. — It  consists  in  a  steady  employment 
of  the  mind  on  the  business  immediately  before  it. 
It  is  surprising  in  how  great  a  degree  the  ability 
of  thus  chaining  down  thought  to  any  prescribed 
object  is  given  by  a  right  education,  and  of  what 
high  importance  it  is,  not  only  in  many  of  the 
walks  of  science,  but  in  the  common  affairs  of 
life.  I  once  was  for  several  weeks  with  a  foreigner 
of  very  fair  natural  abihties,  but  never  subjected  to 
the  discipline  of  early  study,  who  would  often 
arrive  at  right  conclusions  by  a  kind  of  jump,  of 
which  he  could  give  but  little  explanation,  but 
was  incapable  of  fixing  his  mind  on  a  train  of 
reasoning  so  as  to  see  the  dependence  of  the  se- 
veral parts,  each  on  the  other.  He  took  consider- 
able pains  to  obtain  a  little  mathematical  know- 
ledge ;  but  his  thoughts  were  so  quick  in  their 
movements,  and  so  intractable,  that  I  question 
whether  he  could  be  said  fully  to  understand  any 
one  proposition  in  Euclid.  In  giving  an  account 
of  any  piece  of  history  which  he  had  been  reading, 
instead  of  telling  you  with  some  regularity   what 


104  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

he  had  found  m  his  author,  he  drew  you  a  picture 
of  his  own,  lively,  and  often  to  the  purpose,  but 
produced  by  illustrations  and  analogies,  and  a  sort  of 
theatrical  exhibition,  and  not  by  a  narration  of  con- 
secutive facts.  Through  the  general  diffusion  of 
regular  education  in  this  country  among  those 
with  whom  we  associate,  I  suspect  that  we  are 
apt  to  look  on  this  intractability  of  thought  as  a 
mental  disease  in  a  greater  degree  than  we  ought ; 
and  that,  among  savage  nations,  it  is  by  no 
means  uncommon,  or  rather  it  is  perhaps  the  or- 
dinary state  of  the  human  mind.  Whether  this 
opinion  be  well-founded  or  not,  we  shall  all  agree 
in  deprecating  such  a  state  of  intellect  among 
our  children,  and  be  anxious  to  prevent  it.  Let, 
then,  parents  make  a  point  of  using  their  chil- 
dren, and  especially  their  daughters,  whose  natural 
volatility  most  needs  this  discipline,  not  only  to 
give  their  attention  to  the  business  in  which  they 
are  engaged,  but  to  listen,  very  early  to  a  little 
reasoning,  (at  first  a  very  little,)  and  give  a  short  ac- 
count of  the  argument  they  have  heard ;  the 
parent  taking  care  that  the  steps  shall  follow  each 
other  in  their  right  order,  and  that  none  of  them  shall 
be  omitted.  By  degrees  the  arguments  may  become 
longer.  A  skilful  teacher  will  select  a  subject  in- 
teresting to  the  pupil,  who  will  consider  what  passes 
as  conversation,  and  not  as  (what  in  truth  it  is)  a 
lesson  in  which  the  duke  *  is  most  visible,  and  the 
utile  t  rather  concealed.  A  habit  of  occasionally 
passing  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  this  way,  and  of 
proceeding  on  a  similar  plan,  when  the  children 

*  Pleasant.  t  Useful. 


OF    CHRISTIAN     KDUCATIOIt.  105 

give  an  account  of  what  they  have  been  reading, 
and  are  asked  for  opinions  respecting  it,  will  do  much 
towards  making  them  reason  methodically,  which 
is  a  great  point  gained  towards  reasoning  justly, 
and  therefore  towards  acting  rationally,  as  they 
pass  through  hfe.  We  often  meet  witli  a  person 
who  declares  the  he  (or  more  frequently,  I  am 
afraid,  she)  cannot  understand  an  argument  used 
in  conversation,  though  plain  in  itself  And  why  ? 
Scrutinize  a  little,  and  you  will  generally  find  tlie 
true  cause  to  be  an  indisposition  to  apply  the 
mind  with  regular  attention  to  it ;  an  indisposi- 
tion, in  fact,  to  bear  a  burthen  which  has  not  been 
rendered  light  by  the  introduction  of  proper  habits 
in  early  years. 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  add,  that  habits  of  at- 
tention, besides  laying  a  foundation  for  usefulness 
in  future  life,  contribute  essentially  to  the  comfort  of 
the  school-room,  and  to  the  moral  improvement  of 
the  scholars.  They  not  only  extremely  facilitate  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  but  do  much  towards 
making  study  pleasant,  by  making  it  vigorous  and 
productive :  they  thus  draw  forth  the  faculties,  pre- 
vent the  taedium  which  is  apt  to  prey  on  childien  in 
their  school-hours,  when  their  minds  are  not  fully 
employed ;  promote  self-government ;  and  do  away 
the  temptation  to  those  false  excuses  and  pretences, 
of  which  idleness  seldom  fails  continually  to  avail 
itsdf 

4.  Patience. — Scarcely  any  disposition  is  more 
wanted  in  life  than  this,  and  education  affords  ample 
means  of  instilling  and  fostering  it.     Man  is  not  only 


106  A    PP.ACTICAL    VIEW 

called  to  endure  many  natural  evils,  and  many  evils 
brought  upon  him  by  his  fellow-creatures:  but  in 
his  Cliristian  warfare  with  his  own  innate  depravity, 
he  must  continually  mortify  his  strongest  inclina- 
tions and  restrain  his  fondest  wishes.  "  He  that  will 
come  after  me,  must  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his 
cross  and  follow  me."  "If  ye  live  after  the  flesh," 
(that  is,  according  to  your  own  natural  desires,) 
"  ye  shall  die :  but  if  ye,  through  the  Spirit,  do  mor- 
tify the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live."  Eternal 
life  is  promised  to  those  who  seek  for  it  "  by  patient 
continuance  in  well  doing."  And  we  are  told,  that 
if  we  would  be  "  perfect  and  entire,  wanting  no- 
thing," we  must  let  "Patience  have  her  perfect 
work."  Such  was  "  the  good  fight  of  faith"  required 
by  our  Saviour  and  his  Apostles,  and  such  must  it  be 
to  the  end  of  time.  In  this  case,  as  in  every  other, 
God  makes  no  demand  with  which  he  does  not  ena- 
ble man  to  comply.  Not  only  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
ready  to  aid  him,  but  under  the  Divine  government 
he  is  placed  in  circumstances  calculated  to  prepare 
him  for  obedience  to  the  Divine  will.  Among 
these  circumstances,  education  is  intended  by  the 
Almighty  to  hold  a  distinguished  place.  And  the. 
better  to  render  education  a  powerful  instrument  for 
the  attainment  of  this  end,  God  has  bound  parents, 
not  only  by  duty,  but  also  by  a  strong  and  present 
interest,  operating  daily  and  almost  hourly,  to  incul- 
cate patience.  An  impatient  child,  if  not  the  pla;gue 
of  the  house,  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  the  plague  of 
himself  and  of  his  instructor.  How  happens  it, 
then,  that  this  fault  is  so  frequently  suffered  to  pre- 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCAT.ON.  107 

vail  among  children?  Because  the  parent  is  often 
impatient  himself;  and  this  fault  will  completely 
frustrate  all  his  efforts  to  conquer  impatience  in  his 
child.  He  is  also  often  self-indulgent;  and  his  in- 
terest, however  great  and  apparent,  will  not  induce 
him  to  take  the  trouble  requisite  to  subdue  a  fault, 
which  incessantly  re-appears,  and  calls  for  his  unre- 
mitting attention.  Perhaps,  too,  he  persuades  him- 
self that  wayward  fits  and  cross  humors  must  be 
tolerated  in  children,  but  that  they  will  give  way  to 
good  sense  and  maturer  principles  at  a  future 
period. 

Vaia  reason  all,  and  false  philosophy  ! 

Such  a  plea  will  not  stand  a  moment  before  tlie 
maxim  of  the  wise  King  of  Israel :  "  Train  up  a 
child  in  the  way  hejshould  go."  From  whatever 
cause  the  failure  of  a  parent  in  promoting  and  en- 
forcing patience  in  his  young  charge  may  arise,  let 
him  count  the  cost.  Let  him  recollect  the  speedy 
flight  of  time,  and  view  the  precious  months  and 
years  of  childhood,  when  his  parental  power  is  in 
full  vigor,  and  the  youthful  mind  pliable  and  docile, 
sliding  swiftly  away  never  to  return.  Does  he  think 
habits  of  impatience  will  not  strengthen  by  indul- 
gence ?  Or  that  he  shall  find  it  more  easy  to  make 
a  salutary  and  deep  impression  on  the  mind  of  the 
academician,  aspiring  to  all  the  privileges  of  man- 
hood ;  or  of  the  sturdy  school-boy,  who,  during  three 
parts  of  the  year,  is  out  of  his  sight ;  than  on  that 
of  a  playful  child,  always  with  him,  and  conscious 


108  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

of  entire  dependence  upon  him  ?  But  his  reliance 
is  on  the  boy's  future  good  sense  and  good  princi- 
ples. Miserable  reliance ! — and  indulged  at  the  ex- 
pense of  parental  duty.  Good  sense  and  good  prin- 
ciples may,  in  after  life,  effect,  by  God's  blessing,  a 
change  of  temper.  But  with  what  reason  can  a 
parent  trust  to  a  future  change,  while  at  present  he 
suffers  a  child's  judgment  to  be  clouded  by  passion, 
and  his  practice  to  be  at  variance  with  good  princi- 
ples ?  And  how,  without  a  very  offensive  presump- 
tion, can  he  hope  that  God  will  in  some  other  way 
confer  an  advantage  on  his  child,  which  he  himself 
has  not  endeavored  to  obtain  for  him  by  the  appointed 
means  of  a  good  education  ? 

5.  Macrity. — A  lesson  may  be  got  and  said  with 
obedience,  regularity,  attention,  patience,  and  yet  in 
the  sight  of  God  be  got  and  said  very  ill.  God 
"  loveth  a  cheerful  giver :"  and  not  less  a  cheerful 
scholar.  He  requires  that  the  heart  shall  do  him 
homage,  and  willingly  join  in  the  performance  of  all 
our  duties  :  and  he  accepts  of  nothing  as  true  service 
done  to  him,  which  is  done  "grudgingly,  and  of  ne- 
cessity." Hence  the  supreme  importance  of  leading 
children,  on  Christian  grounds,  to  go  through  their 
school-business  with  alacrity.  How  much  this  will 
also  smooth  the  path  of  the  teacher,  and  by  drawing 
forth  energy,  and  giving  life  to  ingenuity,  promote 
the  progress  and  conduce  to  the  happiness  of  the 
scholar,  is  apparent.  So  true  is  it,  in  this  as  in  every 
thing,  that  "golliness  has  the  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to  come." 
The  disposition  which  we  are  considering  crowns  all 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  '  109 

those  which  have  been  mentioned,  at  the  same  time 
that  it  is  dependent  upon  them.  The  queen  of 
school-room  graces  will  shun  the  spot  where  harsh 
and  violent  means  are  employed  to  secure  them. 
The  discipline  by  which  they  are  enforced  must  be 
mild,  rational,  and  enlightened ;  and  all  the  honest 
arts  the  parent  can  devise,  must  be  employed  to 
ward  off  temptations  to  evil,  to  lighten  them  when 
unavoidable,  and  to  smooth  the  path  of  right  con- 
duct. 

And  now,  let  parents  form  to  themselves  an  idea 
of  a  young  family,  in  the  main  obedient,  regular, 
attentive,  patient,  and  cheerful  in  their  school-hours, 
and  contrast  it  with  another  of  opposite  habits  and 
dispositions,  an  I  let  them  say  whether  the  qualifica- 
tions which  have  been  mentioned  will  not  amply  re- 
pay any  pains  which  can  be  taken  to  promote  them, 
even  if  the  present  comfort  and  reputation  of  them- 
selves and  of  their  children  were  alone  considered. 
Let  them  say,  whether,  even  in  this  limited  view, 
such  fruits  are  not  to  be  classed  with  the  most  valua- 
ble a  school-room  can  produce.  But,  when  they 
further  consider,  that  several  of  them  are  strictly  of 
celestial  origin,  and  prepare  those  who  possess  them 
for  eternal  bliss ;  how  unspeakably  will  they  value 
them,  how  unv/earied  v/ill  they  be  in  their  culti- 
vation ! 

I  am  almost  afraid,  lest  tlie  foregoing  view  of  the 
happy  effects  of  a  proper  education,  under  the  bles- 
sing of  God  should  lead  parents  to  expect  too  much 
from  their  labors,  and  to  be  disheartened  when  they 
experience  important  failures.    They  will  assuredly 


ilO  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

meet  with  much  forgetfulness  in  their  children,  many 
instances  of  neghgence,  with  some  capricious  fan- 
cies, and  some  cross  humors ;  and,  perhaps,  in  their 
young  family,  they  may  meet  with  individuals  on 
whom  it  may  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  engraft  one 
or  other  of  the  five  qualities  which  have  been  men- 
tioned. But  let  them  not  be  discouraged.  A  deep 
sense  of  their  own  frailty  and  propensity  to  evil,  not- 
withstanding all  the  grace  of  God  may  have  done 
for  them ;  and  a  recollection  that  these  same  quali- 
ties, less  corrected  perhaps  by  Divine  grace,  are  in- 
herent in  their  children ;  should  lead  them  to  expect 
great  obstacles,  and  rather  to  wonder  at  their  suc- 
cess, than  at  their  failures.  In  fact,  how  could  they 
succeed  in  any  one  instance,  but  for  the  divine  aid  ? 
How  patiently  then,  and  with  what  sweetness  of 
temper,  should  they  bear  with  difficulties  and  hin- 
drances among  their  children,  praying,  and  waiting 
quietly  and  serenely  for  the  blessing  of  God,  while 
they  steadily  and  unweariedly  continue  to  employ  the 
means  which,  on  full  consideration,  appear  to  them  to 
be  the  best  in  their  power !  It  is  surprising  how  such 
conduct  succeeds  in  the  end :  children  altering  un- 
accountably for  the  better,  and  a  bright  dawn  open- 
ing on  a  parent  when  he  thinks  that  a  long  and  dark 
night  is  before  him.  Under  discouraging  circum- 
stances, it  is  of  tlie  highest  importance  that  he  should 
possess  his  soul  in  patience,  and  not  suffer  his  affec- 
tion to  be  alienated  from  his  child.  If  he  fails  in 
these  respects,  his  ability  to  conduct  hiin  mto  the 
right  path  will  assuredly  be  weakened— perhaps  en- 
tirely lost.    He  will  naturally  apply  himself  with 


OF   CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  Ill 

most  care  to  rectify  what  he  deems  most  faulty.  But 
he  ought  to  bear  it  in  mind,  that  in  these  points  the 
child  will  find  a  change  most  difficult.  It  is  here, 
therefore,  that  the  parent  must  not  look  for  more  than 
a  very  gradual  improvement,  interrupted  probably 
by  relapses  and  retrogressions,  and  must  be  particu- 
larly on  his  guard  against  haste  and  violence.  In 
his  other  children,  or  perhaps  in  some  parts  of  the 
character  of  the  very  child  who  causes  him  great 
uneasiness,  he  may  find  much  to  cheer  him.  Such 
cordials,  (if  I  may  be  allowed  the  term,)  he  may 
freely  use,  returning  tlianks  for  them  to  the  Giver  of 
all  good :  but  let  him  never  forget,  that  they  must 
not  lead  him  to  lose  sight  of  the  evil  existing  in  his 
family,  or  relax  in  his  endeavors  to  remove  it. 


112  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 


CHAP.  VI. 

Means  for  the  Suppm-t  of  Parental  .Authority  and  Influ- 
ence,— Rewards  and  Punishments. 

Having  mentioned  the  objects  to  be  kept  in  view  in 
education,  it  may  now  be  proper  to  say  something 
on  the  means  which  it  is  the  duty  of  a  parent  io 
employ  to  make  his  authority  respected,  and  to  in- 
fluence the  minds  of  his  children. 

Of  these  means,  rewards  and  punishments  first 
demand  our  attention.  Various  theoretic  discus- 
sions have  taken  place  respecting-  the  propriety  of 
employing  them  in  education.  I  shall  neither  ex- 
amine nor  produce  any  theories  on  this  subject,  but 
found  what  I  advance  on  the  Divine  example  and 
the  Divine  command,  which,  I  apprehend,  will  be 
far  safer  guides  than  any  theory ;  and  guides  far 
better  suited  to  those  persons  who  have  the  manage- 
ment of  children— persons  generally  much  better 
qualified  to  follow  a  plain  rule  than  a  philosophical 
speculation.  In  the  government  of  this  our  world, 
God  manifestly  employs  rewards  and  punishments. 
They  are  held  out  to  influence  his  creatures,  and 
lead  them  to  tlie  perfonnance  of  their  duty  and  to 
their  true  happiness.  The  punisimients  are  used  re- 
luctantly, and  for  the  purpose  of  humbling  the  mind, 
and  leading  it  to  give  up  forbidden  objects  and  fly  to 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  113 

its  God.  The  rewards  are  most  freely  offered  to 
tliose  who  will  receive  them  with  a  right  disposition 
of  heart,  manifested  by  right  conduct  towards  the 
the  gracious  Donor;  and  are  intended  to  promote 
and  cherish,  as  well  as  to  bless,  such  a  disposition. 
They  produce  their  effect  partly  by  a  sense  of 
their  value  ;  but  more,  by  exciting,  in  the  bosoms 
of  those  on  whom  they  are  bestowed,  a  gi'atitude 
for  the  boon  and  a  love  for  the  Giver.  These  dis- 
positions will  be  proportionate  to  their  conviction 
of  theii'  own  demerit,  and  of  the  Divine  goodness; 
and  when  they  have  taken  root  in  the  heart,  they 
become  the  most  powerful  motives  to  all  Christian 
virtue :  they  constrain  the  man,  as  it  were,  to 
live  unto  his  God,  and  be  a  new  creature  in  his 
service.  I  should  trespass  improperly  on  your  in- 
dulgence, were  I  to  quote  passages  to  prove 
points  which  are  clear  from  the  general  tenor  of 
Scripture,  and  will  be  at  once  admitted.* 

The  parent  in  training  his  child  to  Christian 
virtue,  will  do  well  to  study  diligently  the  Di- 
vine plan  for  promoting  the  same  great  object 
among  men,  and  to  follow  it  as  closely  as  the 
nature  of  the  case  will  admit.  He  will  find  the 
precepts  on  education  in  the  Sacied  Volume,  to 
teach  his  offspring— to  guide  them — to  exact  obe- 
dience from  them — to  command  them — to  correct 
them— but  yet  to  "  forbear  threatening,"  and  not 
discourage  them,  best  illustrated  by  that  plan,  with 
which  they  are  evidently  in  harmony. 

*  2  Cor.  V.  14.  See  also,  Eph.  i.  3 ;  1  Tim.  ii.  13,  17 ;  1  John 
iv.  18,  19 ;  Rev.  i.  5,  6.— vi.  6,  12,  13. 


114  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

How,  then,  should  punishment  be  employed  ? 
Always  reluctantly,  and  as  sparingly  as  circum- 
stances will  allow,  and  in  such  a  manner,  and 
with  such  accompaniments,  that  while  it  deters  from 
sin,  it  may  bring  the  mind  into  a  state  to  be  duly 
influenced  by  other  and  better  motives. 

And  how  should  rewards  be  employed?  With 
pleasure,  and  far  more  freely,  as  incentives  to  good ; 
but  still  with  a  guard  against  their  giving  rise  to 
habits  of  self-indulgence  or  prodigality ;  and  with  a 
constant  recollection,  that  their  highest  use  is  to 
lead  to  the  performance  of  duty  from  the  more 
elevated  motives  of  gratitude  and  affection. — It  will 
be  necessary  to  consider  the  heads  of  this  general 
outline  more  particularly. 

Punishments  should  be  employed  reluctantly.  Will 
any  one  dispute  this  position  ?  And  yet  how  often 
are  they  inflicted  in  such  a  way,  that  there  is  not 
only  no  reluctance  apparent,  but  they  appear  to 
afford  positive  gratification !  It  would  give  me  pain 
to  describe  scenes  which  I  have  witnessed,  when  a 
child  has  been  under  the  correction  of  a  passionate 
or  ill-humored  parent :  nay,  even  of  a  parent,  in 
general  character,  neither  passionate  nor  ill-hu- 
humored,  but  out  of  temper  at  the  time.  Certainly, 
punishment  under  such  circumstances  takes  a  most 
offensive  form,  and  is  often  likely  to  do  much  more 
harm  than  good.  Let  all  of  us  who  are  parents 
(and  I  apply  this  sentiment  very  feelingly  to  myself,) 
take  the  utmost  care  tliat  our  children  shall  have  no 
cause  to  think,  that  it  is  partly  for  our  "  own  plea- 
sure" that  we  correct  them,  and  not  entirely  (after 


OF    CHRl.'TIAN    F.DL'CATIOiV.  115 

tlie  example  of  God)  for  their  profit,  tliat  they 
"may  be  partakers  of  his  holiness."  I  will  not 
dwell  on  this  subject :  it  is  a  painful  one,  whether 
we  contemplate  the  parent  or  the  child;  but  it  is 
one  which  ought  to  engage  the  most  serious  con- 
sideration, and  excite  the  earnest  prayers  of  all  who 
wish  to  do  their  duty  to  their  children.  None,  per- 
haps, stand  in  more  need  of  close  attention  to  it, 
til  an  those  who  are  most  anxious  to  omit  no  part  of 
that  duty ;  since  they  will  feel  the  faults  of  their 
children  most  keenly,  and  therefore  ma)^  be  most 
liable  to  have  their  tempers  ruffled  by  them. 

Punishment  should  be  employed  as  sparingly  as  is 
compatible  with  the  attainment  of  its  ends.  It  is  in 
itself  an  evil ;  and  is  attended  by  several  bad  conse- 
quences, which  are  comparatively  of  slight  impor- 
tance when  it  seldom  occurs,  but  become  tiTily  for- 
midable on  its  frequent  repetition.  These  are  the 
eflfects  to  be  apprehended  on  the  temper  of  the  child, 
on  its  affections,  and  on  its  principles  of  action,  and 
consequently  on  its  conduct.  Its  temper  and  its 
affection  for  its  parent  are  very  likely  to  suffer  during 
the  infliction  of  punishment,  or  tlie  immediate  dread 
of  it ;  and  if  such  seasons  often  recur,  they  will 
afford  a  degree  of  permanence  to  feelings,  which 
would  otherwise  be  incidental  and  transient,  and 
counteracted  by  the  general  harmony  and  hapjjy 
intercourse  existing  between  the  parent  and  child. 
On  their  deplorable  nature,  when  they  become  hab- 
itual, I  need  say  nothing :  every  parent  will  feel  it. 
The  child  will  also  suffer  with  respect  to  its  princi- 
ples of  action ;  for,  in  proportion  as  it  is  influenced 


116  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

iii  its  daily  conduct  by  fear  of  punishment,  it  acts 
from  the  motives  which  govern  a  slave;  and  these 
motives  will  be  followed  by  the  dispositions  and 
vices  of  a  slave,  (except  so  far  as  they  are  counter- 
acted by  otlier  and  better  motives,  and  their  atten- 
dant virtues,)  which  are  selfishness,  meanness,  de- 
ceit, and  a  propensity  to  tyranny  and  cruelty.  The 
danger  of  these  evils,  and  of  those  mentioned  before, 
appalling  as  they  are,  must  be  encountered,  when 
frequent  punishment  is  necessary ;  but  surely  every 
advisable  method  should  be  taken  to  avoid  or  to 
lessen  that  necessity. 

This  view  of  punishment  strongly  shows  the  pro- 
priety of  employing  it,  when  unhappily  it  is  indis- 
pensable, in  such  a  manner,  and  with  such  accom- 
paniments, as  may  disarm  it  as  much  as  may  be  of 
its  mischief,  and  lead  the  mind  to  higher  motives. 
First,  then,  as  blows  and  stripes  brutalize  and  har- 
den more  than  other  punishments,  let  them,  if  prac- 
ticable, be  avoided.  They  appeal  to  mere  corporal 
feeling,  without  that  mixture  of  reflection  and  moral 
feeling  which  most  other  punishments  even  of  a 
corporal  nature  tend  to  excite.  During  an  im- 
prisonment within  a  room  or  a  house,  a  boy  will 
probably  be  led  to  think;  but,  during  a  whipping, 
he  seldom  reflects.  The  difference  is  also  apparent, 
when  the  alternative  is  between  a  whipping  and 
some  fine  or  privation. — Another  evil  attending 
blows  and  stripes  is,  that  they  not  only  so  occupy 
the  mind  by  corporal  suffering,  as  to  leave  little  or 
no  room  for  other  motives ;  but  they  are  apt  to  discom- 
pose the  minds  both  of  parent  and  child,  and  unfit 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  11/ 

the  one  to  urge  such  motives,  and  the  other  to  at- 
tend to  them  in  a  proper  manner,  and  with  a  pros- 
pect of  advantage.  This  is  a  most  important  con- 
sideration. In  proportion  as  motives  of  a  higher 
kind  can  be  mixed  with  tliose  of  a  lower,  they  tend 
extremely  to  qualify  the  evil  which  arises  from  the 
latter.  Greatly,  then,  ought  modes  of  punishment 
to  be  avoided,  which,  while  they  press  most  severely 
on  our  animal  nature,  afford  the  least  room  for  the 
influence  of  higher  principles. — After  all,  in  some 
cases,  notliing  will  answer  the  purposes  of  punish- 
ment but  blows  and  stripes.  These  cases,  however, 
will  seldom,  if  ever,  occur,  I  apprehend,  in  families 
where  education  has  been  properly  conducted. 
Wherever  they  do  occur,  they  ought  to  be  treated 
with  great  temper  and  deliberation;  and  punish- 
ment ought  to  be  accompanied  by  a  clear  expo- 
sition to  the  culprit  of  the  necessity  of  its  use,  in 
consequence  of  other  means  having  been  found  in- 
effectual, and  by  a  deep  and  cordial  expression  of 
concern,  that  such  a  punishment  should  be  ne- 
cessary;— and  the  infliction  should  be  solemn,  but 
not  such  as  to  excite  overw'helming  terror,  which 
would  obliterate  any  impression  made  by  the  pre- 
ceding conversation,  and  aggravate  evils  without  a 
corresponding  benefit.  After  the  punishment,  great 
pains  ought  to  be  taken  to  derive  every  attainable 
advantage  from  it,  to  remedy  any  evils  it  may  have 
produced,  and  to  prevent  the  necessity  of  its  repe- 
tition. With  this  view^,  the  parent  should  conduct 
himself  towards  his  child  with  openness  and  affec- 
tion, and  show  that  he  has  a  pleasure  in  giving  him 


118  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

rewards  for  good  conduct,  in  gratifying  his  innocent 
wishes,  and  in  consulting  his  happiness.  But  this 
must  be  done  with  moderation  and  simpUcity ;  and 
care  must  be  taken  that  the  child  shall  not  be  led  to 
think  that  the  parent  is  making  his  peace  with  him, 
or  granting  him  indulgences  merely  because  he  has 
been  punished.  When  the  child's  mind  is  tran- 
quilized,  and  his  affections  appear  to  flow  in  their 
usual  course,  the  parent  should  avail  himself  of  good 
opportunities  of  convincing  the  child  of  his  former 
sin  and  folly,  of  the  unseemliness  of  his  fault,  and 
the  beauty  of  the  opposite  virtue,  and  of  the  pain 
occasioned  not  to  the  child  only,  but  to  the  parent 
himself,  by  the  infliction  of  the  punishment:  and 
this  pain  should  be  contrasted  with  the  happiness 
all  would  have  enjoyed,  had  the  child  behaved  well. 
He  should  do  his  utmost  also  to  make  the  child  feel 
the  force  of  higher  motives;  the  pleasure  which 
attends  the  performance  of  duty  and  the  approba- 
tion of  relations:  and,  above  all,  the  peace  which 
passeth  understanding,  and  the  bright  sunshine  of 
soul,  which  flow  from  the  favor  of  God,  as  foretastes 
of  the  everlasting  joys  reserved  for  those  who  yield 
themselves  to  the  guidance  of  his  Holy  Spirit  and 
are  renewed  in  his  image.  At  the  same  time,  temp- 
tations to  former  faults  should  be  lessened  as  much 
as  possible,  the  beginnings  of  evil  should  be  care- 
fully watched,  and  immediately  checked,  and  every 
endeavor  should  be  used  to  make  the  progress  in 
good  easy  and  pleasant.  It  is  unnecessary  to  go 
into  details  on  other  punishments.  They  ought  to 
be  employed  in  a  similar  spirit,  and  with  similar  pre- 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION. 


119 


cautions,  due  regard  being  had  to  their  nature  and 
probable  effects. 

I  should  be  much  concerned,  if  what  I  have  said 
on  punishments  should  lead  any  parent  to  omit  to 
employ  them  when  necessary.  Every  method  should 
be  used  to  prevent  or  lessen  the  necessity;  but  when 
really  wanted,  they  must  be  inflicted.  In  such  cases, 
the  omission  of  the  punishment  is  an  evil  of  the  first 
magnitude.  Much  as  I  deprecate  a  severe  system 
in  education,  I  fully  agree  with  an  approved  author, 
that  one  of  indulgence  is  more  to  be  dreaded.  If 
we  listen  to  the  Divine  command,  we  shall  not  spoil 
the  child  by  sparing  the  rod.  If  we  copy  the  Divine 
example,  we  shall  not  be  led  by  any  inducements  to 
acquiesce  in  what  is  wrong.  If  we  have  a  predomi- 
nant hatred  of  sin  and  love  of  holiness,  our  very 
feelings  will  prevent  us  from  doing  so.  Our  princi- 
ples and  inclinations  will  alike  impel  us  to  act  with 
vigor  and  perseverance  in  combating  evil  in  our 
families.  No  parental  fondness,  no  love  of  personal 
ease,  will  prevail  with  us  to  give  up  the  contest. 
While  our  conduct  exhibits  mildness  and  gentleness, 
it  will  as  strongly  be  marked  by  firmness  and  de- 
cision. 

Let  not  any  parent  fear  the  loss  of  his  child's 
aftection  from  proper  strictness  in  education,  when 
combined  with  the  other  parts  of  the  course  I  am 
recommending.  I  am  convinced  that,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  child's  love  for  him  will  be  increased  by 
such  strictness  making  a  part  of  his  system.  With- 
out it,  there  will  be  less  esteem,  perhaps  no  esteem, 
for  the  parent ;  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  show,  how 


120  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

very  greatly  esteem  contributes  to  real  affection ;  so 
greatly  indeed  that  I  believe  an  attempt  to  obtain 
genuine  affection  by  indulgence  will  not  only  fail, 
but  will  produce  the  opposite  effect.  Indulgence 
will  foster  selfishness  and  sensuality,  and  with  them 
hardness  of  heart.  A  person  whom  you  indulge 
will  often  love  to  be  with  you,  will  cling  to  you, 
and  show  great  fondness ;  but  cease  to  indulge,  and 
comparative  coldness  and  indifference  will  quickly 
follow.  Does  not  this  change  prove  that  self  was  at 
the  bottom  of  former  appearances,  and  was  the 
chief  if  not  the  only  object  of  affection  ? — Can  we 
wonder  at  such  a  result  ?  God's  blessing  accompa- 
nies the  performance  of  duty;  his  displeasure  its 
omission.  With  his  blessing,  all  things  will  work 
together  for  good.  With  his  displeasure,  what  can 
be  expected  but  disappointment  and  evil .'' 

I  should  enlarge  somewhat  more  on  this  very  im- 
portant subject,  though  conscious  that  I  have  al- 
ready detained  my  readers  long  upon  it,  had  there 
not  appeared,  in  the  Christian  Observer  for  January 
1813,  two  letters  which  throw  light  on  the  point  be- 
fore us,  as  well  as  on  others  of  high  importance  in 
education,  and  possess  the  advantage  of  showing, 
as  it  were,  general  rules  reduced  to  practice.  These 
letters,  with  a  short  one  explanatory  of  the  occasion 
on  which  they  were  written,  are  inserted  in  an  Ap- 
pendix. 

Rewards  are  an  engine  in  the  hands  of  a  parent, 
which  he  will  employ  with  pleasure, — a  pleasure 
which,  while  it  sweetens  his  own  labors,  will  in- 
crease the  affection  of  his  child,  by  showing  what 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  121 

an  interest  he  takes  in  his  Iiappiness,  and  will  im- 
part double  value  to  the  gift  he  may  bestow.  To 
give  churlishly  or  grudgingly  would  be  so  mon- 
strous, tliat  nothing  need  be  said  to  prevent  such  a 
practice ;  but  I  have  not  seldom  thought  that  I  have 
seen  rew^ards  bestowed  on  cliildren  in  a  manner 
somewhat  ungracious,  and  consequently  received 
with  far  less  pleasure  than  would  otherwise  have 
been  excited,  and,  what  is  more  important,  with 
little  or  no  appearance  of  gratitude  to  the  donor. 
Surely  this  mode  of  giving  ought  to  be  carefully 
avoided.  We  all  know  how  very  greatly  our 
feelings,  on  receiving  a  present,  depend  on  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  is  offered  to  us.  Will  it  be  supposed, 
that  the  sensibility  of  children  is  less  alive  on  such 
occasions  ?  But  there  are  errors  more  common  and 
more  prejudicial.  Rewards  are  often  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  nourish  sensuality,  prodigality,  or  (es- 
pecially in  girls)  vanit)^ ;  and  still  more  frequently 
no  care  is  taken  to  instil  into  the  child,  that  they 
are  not  to  be  considered  principally  as  means  of 
personal  gratification,  but  rather  as  means  of  use- 
fulness and  sources  of  bounty.  If  we  would  avoid 
these  evils,  it  is  apparent  that  the  gratification  of 
the  palate  should  not  be  consulted,  and  that  showy 
articles  of  dress  and  unmeaning  toys  are  not  good 
rewards.  Still  less  is  money,  (especially  much  of  it,) 
when  it  is  to  be  spent  just  as  the  child  pleases.  But 
whatever  is  given,  childi^en  should  be  early  taught 
that  they  are  trustees  under  God ;  and  that  an  em- 
ployment of  what  they  receive  from  their  parents  or 
others  in  a  way  pleasing  to  him,  while  it  will  obtain 


122  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

Jiis  favor  will  also  sweeten  all  their  enjoyments. 
They  will  be  easily  made  to  feel  this,  if  some  pains 
are  taken  to  select  objects  of  bounty  whom  they 
love,  or  with  whom  they  will  readily  sympathize ; 
and  to  point  out  little  purchases,  as  proper  books,  or 
tools,  or  useful  toys,  which  may  lead  to  their  im- 
provement, or  exercise  their  ingenuity,  or  promote 
active  exertion,  at  the  same  time  that  they  afford 
pleasure.  Thus  their  little  property,  instead  of  ad- 
ministering to  frivolity  and  other  vicious  propensi- 
ties, may  contribute  very  materially  to  the  invigo- 
rating of  their  bodily  and  mental  powers,  the  form- 
ing of  their  dispositions,  and,  above  all,  to  their 
being  early  trained  in  the  most  important,  perhaps, 
of  all  habits,  that  of  viewing  all  they  possess  as  not 
their  own  but  God's,  and  that  of  always  associating- 
pleasure  with  duty,  and  of  considering  the  former 
as  not  only  unhallowed  in  itself,  but  as  wanting  its 
best  ingredient,  and  scarcely  to  deserve  its  name, 
when  severed  from  the  latter. 

But  the  highest  and  noblest  use  of  rewards  is  to 
raise  the  soul  to  its  proper  elevation, — to  give  noble 
and  generous  motives  their  due  influence  over  it, 
and  to  emancipate  it  from  a  thraldom  to  those  of  an 
inferior  kind.  The  former  are,  gratitude  and  love 
to  God,  the  Giver  of  all  good ;  and  to  parents  and 
other  benefactors,  his  vicegerents  on  earth,  in  its 
distribution.  The  latter  are,  a  love  of  pleasure  and 
an  aversion  to  pain.  In  proportion  as  the  first  pre- 
dominate, selfishness  is  counteracted;  and  we  are 
led  to  the  contemplation,  and  love,  and  imitation  of 
the  adorable  perfections  of  the  Divine  Nature.    A 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  123 

human  being,  in  whom  the  last  are  the  ruling  prin- 
ciple, is  shut  up,  as  it  were,  within  the  narrow 
bounds  of  self,  and  will  be  engaged  in  studying  the 
gratification  of  those  mean  and  grovelling  dispo- 
sitions which  he  brought  into  the  world.  He  will 
remain  what  he  was  originally,  "  earthly,  sensual, 
devilish,"  "  a  lover  of  pleasure  rather  than  a  lover 
of  God."  How  indispensable,  then,  is  it  to  lead  the 
youthful  mind  to  look  l^eyond  the  mere  possession 
of  a  reward,  and  of  the  gratifications  it  can  bestow ; 
to  direct  its  view  to  the  love  of  the  immediate  donor^ 
and,  above  all,  to  the  love  of  Him  who  put  that  love 
into  the  donor's  heart,  and  conferred  upon  him  all 
his  ability  to  be  bountiful,  and  created  the  very 
thing  which  the  child  has  received  from  his  bounty ! 
Parental  endeavors  to  give  a  child  such  views  will 
naturally  be  accompanied  by  an  exposition  of  the 
Divine  holiness  and  justice,  and  of  the  impossibility 
of  the  unholy  being  permanently  the  objects  of  Di- 
vine love.  The  wisdom  of  God  will  also  be  de- 
scribed as  opening  to  his  view  every  recess  of  the 
human  heart;  and  liis  power  as  making  it  impossi- 
ble to  escape  the  punishment,  or  lose  the  blessings, 
he  appoints.  Thus  his  whole  character  will  be 
brought  before  the  child  ;  and  those  attributes  which 
would  be  most  likely  to  be  repulsive,  coming,  as  it 
were,  in  the  train  of  love  and  bounty,  will  be  awful 
without  producing  horror;  and,  by  the  Divine  help, 
affection  and  veneration  will  be  excited  in  harmo- 
nious union  in  his  bosom.  Oh,  the  joy  of  heart  to 
the  parent,  who  sees  his  child  enter  upon  the  blessed 
path  which  is  to  lead  him  to  his  God  !   Let  him  spare 


124  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

no  pains  in  conducting  him  forward  in  it,  in 
smoothing  it  to  his  steps,  and  in  shielding  him  from 
seduction  to  tlie  right  or  left.  He  must  not  hope  to 
effect  his  object  by  set  lectures,  at  stated  times. 
They  would  not  improbably  disgust  rather  than 
benefit ;  and  even  if  they  could  be  made  agreeable 
and  impressive,  they  would  be  forgotten  in  the  hour 
of  temptation.  His  object  can  only  be  attained  by 
watching  the  little  incidents  of  the  day,  and  taking 
advantage  of  them  for  its  promotion.  This  course 
must  be  pursued  gently,  and  as  pleasantly  as  possi- 
ble to  the  child ;  but  always  by  means  whieh  God 
will  approve,  and  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  infinite 
importance  of  the  end  in  view.  There  must  be  no 
flattery,  no  deceit,  no  superficial  healing  of  spiritual 
wounds;  but  zeal  and  honesty  must  be  combined 
with  due  allowances  for  the  weakness,  tenderness, 
and  volatility  of  a  child,  and  with  patience,  benig- 
nity, and  love. 

If  the  letters  in  the  Christian  Observer,  already 
mentioned,  had  not  appeared,  I  should  have  enlarged 
rather  more  on  some  points  connected  with  this  sub- 
ject than  will  now  be  necessary.  It  may  be  suffi- 
cient to  say  briefly,  Let  a  parent,  in  pursuing  the 
course  which  has  been  recommended,  have  recourse 
to  representations,  appeals,  persuasions,  and  make 
the  best  use  he  can  of  hymns  and  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture already  learnt  by  the  child.  Let  him  touch  the 
conscience,  awaken  shame,  affection,  gratitude.  Let 
him  encourage  openness  and  confidence  by  kindness 
and  sympathy ;  and  keep  back  the  exercise  of  pa- 
rental authority  as  much  as  he  can,  showing  that  he 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  125 

wishes  not  to  use  it,  and  that,  if  obhged  to  do  so,  he 
will  be  influenced  solely  by  a  sense  of  duty.  But 
though  it  is  his  daily  endeavor  to  copy  the  beautiful 
forbearance  of  St.  Paul  towards  Philemon,  he  must 
guard  against  laxity  and  weaknes.  He  must  not 
fail  through  tenderness  to  the  child,  or  from  atten- 
tion to  his  own  ease  or  convenience,  duly  to  notice 
the  faults  he  may  discover.  In  this  respect  he  must 
act  on  a  system,  and  with  undeviating  consistency 
and  steadiness.  He  will  watch  against  the  risings 
of  bad  tempers,  and  against  mere  professions ;  and 
counteract  such  evils  by  his  own  good  temper,  by 
his  own  trutli  and  modesty  and  simplicity,  and  by 
turning  the  eye  of  his  child  upon  his  heart,  as  well 
as  by  more  direct,  though  perhaps  not  more  effica- 
cious, means.  When  the  child  has  committed  a 
fault,  he  will  allow  time  for  recovery  from  inciden- 
tal agitations,  and  accept  no  professions  of  repen- 
tance and  good  intention  while  the  state  of  the  heart 
appears  doubtful:  taking  care  to  impress  on  the 
child,  that  the  great  object  he  should  have  in  view 
should  be  to  make  his  peace  with  God ;  that  the  of- 
fence has  been  an  offence  against  God,  who  sees  the 
inmost  soul.  He  will  feel  the  high  importance  of 
the  work  in  which  he  is  engaged,  and  his  own  weak- 
ness and  insufficiency  ;  and  will  put  up  from  time  to 
time  secret  aspirations  to  God  for  his  blessing  on 
himself,  as  well  as  on  his  child ;  and  will  persevere 
until  there  is  a  satisfactory  appearance  of  mild  and 
ingenuous  repentance.  Though  the  child  should 
not  be  brought  by  his  labors  to  true  Christian  con- 
version, (for  in  that  great  w^ork,  so  peculiarly  his 

M    I 


I'i6  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

own,  God  will  grant  certainty  of  success  to  no  hu- 
man agent,)  yet  they  will  not  fail,  I  think,  to  make  a 
salutary  impression.  A  consciousness  of  right  and 
wrong  will  be  strengthened ;  fear  will  become  less  a 
principle  of  action ;  and  conscience  will  stand  more 
in  the  place  of  punishment.  His  love  of  his  parents^ 
and  his  deference  for  them,  will  increase :  good 
habits  will  be  formed,  and  a  general  respect  at  least 
for  religion  will  be  cherished.  He  will,  in  this  way, 
undergo  an  important  change.  The  system  under 
which  he  is  brought  up  is  "  the  nurture  and  admo- 
nition of  the  Lord ;"  and  his  parent  may  humbly 
hope  that  it  will  be  "  a  schoolmaster  to  bring  him  to 
Christ."  With  many  present  disappointments,  per- 
haps, as  to  its  effects,  he  may  yet  humbly  hope  that 
its  value  will  be  deeply  felt  at  some  future  and  more 
happy  period,  when,  under  God's  providence,  the 
soil  is  fully  prepared  for  the  growth  of  the  good  seed. 
Then  may  that  sown  in  childhood  shoot  up  with 
vigor,  and  bear  abundant  fruit.  But  very  fre- 
quently, I  am  convinced,  God  vouchsafes  a  more 
speedy  and  visible  blessing.  The  parent  sees  the 
work  of  genuine  regeneration  commence  and  pro- 
ceed under  his  eye  in  early  youth.  He  has  the  su- 
preme happiness  of  seeing  his  child,  with  true  sub- 
mission of  hea.rt,  look  up  to  his  Saviour,  and  put 
himself  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In 
religion,  indeed,  as  in  every  thing,  the  child  will  be  a 
child — ill  informed,  weak,  wavering,  and  inconsis- 
tent: but  still  there  may  be  satisfactory  evidence 
that  he  is  gradually  conquering  his  native  corrup- 
tions, and  beginning  to  acquire  Christian  graces; 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  127 

that  he  is  renewing  in  the  ypirit  of  his  mind,  and  at- 
taining a  portion  of  the  image  of  God. 

It  may  be  proper  to  add,  on  the  subject  of  rewards, 
that,  in  addition  to  the  value  they  derive  from  other 
considerations,  they  possess  high  importance  in  cases 
in  which  punishment  must  be  often  employed,  as 
antidotes  to  the  evils  which  attend  it.  Without  them, 
(as  in  many  public  schools,)  punishment  has  a  great 
tendency  to  exasperate  and  harden ;  and  that  to 
such  a  degree  as  even  to  lead  the  culprit  to  glory  in 
suffering,  without  shrinking  at  the  time,  and  without 
bemg  at  all  affected  either  before  or  after.  In  pro- 
portion to  the  horror  with  which  a  Christian  parent 
contemplates  such  obduracy,  will  he  be  anxious  to 
prevent  every  approach  to  it :  and  it  is  obvious  how 
much  the  rigJit  employment  of  rewards  will  assist 
him  in  his  endeavors,  by  showing  his  affection, 
softening  the  heart  of  the  child,  and  placing  it  under 
the  influence  of  a  better  motive  than  fear.  I  know 
a  numerous  family,  in  which  tliere  is  seldom  a 
greater  punishment  inflicted,  than  the  withholding 
of  a  reward.  When  this  is  not  suflScient,  some  de- 
duction is  generally  made  from  a  little  property  in 
the  parent's  hands,  consisting  of  an  accumulation 
of  rewards.  In  that  family  it  is  usual,  after  every 
lesson,  to  give  some  number,  proportioned  to  its 
merit,  to  be  added  to  the  numerical  sum  possessed 
by  the  child  from  former  rewards.  The  addition  is 
performed  by  the  child,  who  may  incur  a  known 
loss  of  one  or  two,  if  the  calculation  should  be 
wrong.  These  numbers  are  considered  as  worth  a 
certain  sum,   say   Is.  per  hundred;  and   the  child 


128  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

receives  for  them  at  the  established  rate,  upon  ap- 
plication, for  any  purpose  which  the  parent  ap 
proves.  The  remaining  numbers,  not  exchanged 
for  money,  continue  the  property  of  the  child. — This 
little  detail  may  appear  unnecessary  ;  but  education 
consists  of  details,  and  its  success  depends  much  on 
their  proper  selection  and  management.  A  system 
of  this  sort  comprises  many  advantages ;  for,  besides 
being  a  regular  plan  for  conferring  rewards,  it  makes 
the  child  early  acquainted  with  property  and  its 
uses,  and  provides  for  his  property  being  the  reward 
of  his  merit ;  and  it  also  places  the  whole  so  imme- 
diately under  the  eye  and  control  of  the  parent,  as 
to  enable  him  both  to  prevent  its  abuse  and  to  give 
any  suggestions  as  to  its  employment.  It  possesses 
a  further  advantage  of  some  consequence ;  that  of 
rendering  children  adroit  in  adding  and  subtracting 
by  the  head,  without  this  being  made  a  regular  ob- 
ject of  study. 

I  cannot  dismiss  the  consideration  of  rewards  and 
punishments,  without  cautioning  parents,  on  the 
one  hand,  against  the  mischief  of  permitting  ser- 
vants, except  in  very  particular  cases,  to  employ  them 
to  any  considerable  extent;  and  on  the  other,  against 
suffering  those  faults  and  merits  of  children  which 
manifest  themselves  in  the  nursery  to  escape  due 
notice. — Having  already  made  some  remarks  on  the 
general  character  of  servants  with  reference  to  edu- 
cation, it  will  be  unnecessary  now  to  enlarge  on 
that  point.  The  management  of  punishments  is  fa)- 
too  delicate  to  be  entrusted  to  such  hands.  When  a 
child  is  very  violent,  he  must  indeed  be  put  under 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  129 

immediate  restraint  by  any  one  who  happens  to  be 
present :  but  servants  should  not  be  allowed  to  do 
more  in  this  way  than  the  exigency  of  the  case  de- 
mands ;  and  recourse  should  immediately  be  had  to 
the  parents,  or,  in  their  absence,  to  those  who  supply 
their  place.  With  respect  to  rewards,  servants  would 
probably  be  lavish,  and  indiscriminate,  and  capri- 
cious in  their  use,  neither  guarding  against  the  evils 
to  be  feared,  nor  forming  any  tolerable  estimate  of 
the  higher  and  more  durable  advantages  to  be  de- 
rived from  them.  Something  must  be  allowed  in  a 
nursery  in  the  way  botli  of  punishment  and  reward : 
but  it  ought  to  be  confined  within  very  narrow 
limits.  The  parents,  particularly  the  mother,  should 
keep  a  vigilant  eye  over  the  course  of  things  there, 
and  interfere  in  person  in  all  cases  of  importance. 

From  several  of  the  preceding  observations,  it 
will  be  inferred,  that  very  much  may  be  done  in  in- 
ducing a  child  to  perform  his  duty  without  having 
recourse  to  rewards  and  punishments.  Appeals  to 
his  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  to  his  gratitude  and 
his  love,  to  his  dread  of  the  displeasure  and  desire 
of  the  favor  of  his  parents,  and  far  more  of  his 
Sanctifier,  his  Saviour,  and  his  Heavenly  Father : — 
such  appeals,  pressed  with  tenderness,  but  with 
wannth,  and  accommodated  to  the  age,  knowledge, 
and  disposition  of  the  child,  will  be  found  of  great 
efficacy  at  a  very  early  age,  and  will  become  more 
potent  instruments  of  good  in  proportion  as  a  child 
advances  in  knowledge,  in  right  feeling,  and  in 
sound  habits,  and,  above  all,  as  he  obtains  more 
and  more  of  the  Divine  blessing.     A  parent  ought, 


130  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

from  the  very  commencement  of  education,  to  look 
principally  to  these  means  of  exciting  his  child  "  to 
eschew  evil,  and  to  do  good ;"  and  should  consider 
rewards  and  punishments  as  inferior  and  subordi- 
nate. How  will  he  rejoice  to  observe  the  increasing 
influence  of  these  higher  and  nobler  motives,  and 
his  child  making  a  progress  towards  that  holy  state 
in  which  they  become  decidedly  the  paramount 
principles  of  action — the  undisputed  lords  of  all 
other  principles ! — But  I  must  not  suffer  myself  to 
dwell  a  second  time  on  this  animating  subject. 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  131 


CHAP.    VII. 


Example. — Emulation.  —  Effect  of  personal  Character  of 
Parents. — Deceit. 

There  is  one  additional  stimulus  to  be  used  with 
children :  it  is  that  of  example. — We  all  know  how 
powerfully  this  is  recommended  as  a  source  of  good 
by  our  holy  religion.  Jesus,  our  Saviour  "was 
given  us  as  an  example,  that  we  should  follow  his 
steps."  What  Christian,  who  contemplates  that 
blessed  Example  with  holy  affection,  and  who  feels 
a  warm  gratitude  for  the  unutterable  condescension 
of  his  Divine  Master,  in  affording  to  him  this  help  in 
his  spiritual  course,  will  not  exert  himself  to  give 
his  children  all  the  benefit  he  can,  from  the  example, 
not  only  of  Christ,  but  of  those  who,  however  in- 
ferior, are  yet  his  true  servants !  He  will  extend  his 
view  further,  and,  from  the  mass  of  characters  of  a 
lower  description,  he  will  select  examples  to  be 
placed  before  his  children.  Here,  indeed,  he  will 
proceed  with  much  caution,  and  employ  much  dis- 
crimination. But  as  he  will  observe,  even  among 
persons  of  this  class,  many  who  are  eminent  for 
some  amiable  disposition,  or  useful  habit,  or  praise- 
worthy attainment,  so  he  will  not  fail  to  draw  the 
attention  of  his  pupil  to  them ;  and,  in  pointing  out 
to  him  what  may  be  effected  by  the  force  of  very 
inferior  motives,  he  will  impress  on  his  mind  what 


132  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

ought  to  be  the  efficacy  of  tiiose  which  flow  from 
the  rehgion  of  Christ.  He  will  also  hold  out,  but 
with  more  reluctance  and  reserve,  not  only  those 
who  are,  in  the  most  emphatical  sense,  vicious  char- 
acters, but  also  those  who  have  grossly  neglected 
means  of  improvement,  and  those  whose  conduct^ 
whether  through  error  or  thoughtlessness,  is  absurd 
or  mischievous,  as  warnings  to  deter  from  like 
courses.  There  are  many  and  great  advantages  in 
conveying  instruction  in  this  way.  What  is  holy^ 
estimable,  and  amiable,  or  the  reverse,  will  be  better 
understood,  and  especially  hy  children,  when  ex- 
hibited in  action,  than  when  described  in  the  ab- 
stract. It  will  also  be  far  more  likely,  according  to 
its  real  quality,  to  engage  the  affections,  or  create 
disgust  and  abhorrence,  when  so  exhibited ;  for  it  is 
a  general,  though  by  no  means  a  universal  truth, 
that,  to  an  unsophisticated  mind,  virtue  in  active 
life  will  be  lovely,  and  vice  hateful.  A  parent  will 
take  care  at  first,  to  select  instances  for  his  child's 
observation,  in  which  these  appear  clearly  in  their 
appropriate  colors ;  and  afterwards,  when  his  esti- 
mate of  things  becomes  pretty  just,  and  his  taste 
tolerably  correct,  the  parent  will  venture,  by  de- 
grees, to  call  his  attention  to  other  instances,  in 
which  good  and  bad  qualities  or  habits  are  so  inter- 
mixed as  to  lead  a  careless  observer  to  wrong  con- 
clusions, affording  to  his  pupil  the  benefit  of  his  own 
experience  in  developing  and  separating  the  compo- 
nent parts  of  such  characters,  and  in  assigning  to 
each  due  praise  or  blame.  Such  representations 
will  obtain  a  more  easy  admission  into  the  youthful 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUfATION.  133 

mind,  if  accompanied  by  proofs  of  the  tendency  of 
virtue  to  promote  happiness,  and  vice  misery.  I'his 
tendency  must  be  shown,  not  in  any  abstract  way, 
but  by  pointin^^  out  effects  of  this  kind  in  the  indi- 
vidual instances  which  come  under  review.  If,  on 
such  occasions,  tenderness  and  delicacy  and  discri- 
mination are  combined  with  warmth  and  feeling, 
the  child  will  listen  with  much  interest,  and  the 
parent  may  hope  for  God's  blessing,  and  for  ex- 
cellent fruits  from  this  very  pleasant  branch  of  edu- 
cation. 

In  this  course,  however,  there  are  serious  evils  to 
be  avoided. 

Praise  and  blame  must  be  dealt  out  with  modera- 
tion, and  often  with  diffidence. — ^o  human  being  can 
be  entitled  to  more  than  moderate  praise ;  and  no 
man  who  aspires  to  love  his  neighbor  as  himself, 
will  think  himself  warranted  in  unlimited  or  un- 
guarded censure,  or  will  feel  a  disposition  to  employ 
it.  To  be  pron^  to  extremes  in  forming  a  judgment  of 
others,  is  always  foolish,  and  often  highly  presump- 
tuous and  offensive.  Woe  be  to  the  parent  who 
leads  his  child  into  this  error!  Next  to  the  child 
himself,  he  may  be  the  greatest  sufferer  from  so 
doing. 

He  must  also  be  careful  not  to  foster  in  the  child 
a  fastidious  or  captious,  or  even  a  critical,  spirit. 
Let  him  never  fail  to  inculcate,  that  the  first  and 
great  business  of  every  individual  is  to  do  his  own 
duty;  and  that,  although  there  are  many  reasons 
for  endeavoring  to  form  a  true  estimate  of  the  char- 
acter and  conduct  of  others,  yet  this  estimate  ifhust 


134  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

always  be  formed  witli  modesty  and  charity,  and 
witli  a  recollection  that  we  are  not  their  judges; — 
to  their  own  Master  they  must  stand  or  fall.  If,  in- 
deed, cliildren  should  be  unhappily  exposed  to  much 
intercourse  with  those  whose  tempers  or  habits  are 
blameable,  and  likely  to  mislead  them,  no  motive  of 
this  -nature  will  justify  a  parent  in  neglecting  to 
guard  them  against  the  evils  to  be  apprehended. 
He  must  hold  up  the  persons  in  question  as  warn- 
ings before  the  eyes  of  his  family. 

Further :  he  must  hold  out  examples  to  his  child 
in  such  a  way  as  not  to  excite  emulation. — To  imi- 
tate an  example  is  one  thing ;  to  rival  any  person, 
and  endeavor  to  obtain  a  superiority  over  him,  is 
another.  It  is  very  true,  as  is  maintained  by  the  de- 
fenders of  emulation,  that  it  is  unpossible  to  make 
progress  towards  excellence  without  outstripping 
others.  But  surely  there  is  a  great  difference  be- 
tween the  attainment  of  a  superiority  over  others 
being  a  mere  consequence  of  exertions  arising  from 
other  motives,  and  a  zeal  to  attain  this  object  being 
itself  a  motive  for  exertion.  Every  one  must  see, 
that  the  effects  produced  on  the  mind  in  the  two 
cases  will  be  extremely  dissimilar.  Emulation  is  a 
desire  of  surpassing  others,  for  the  sake  of  supe- 
riority, and  is  a  very  powerful  motive  to  exertion. 
As  such,  it  is  employed  in  most  public  schools ;  but 
in  none,  I  believe,  ancient  or  modern,  has  it  been  so 
fully  and  systematically  brought  into  action,  as  in 
the  schools  of  Dr.  Bell  and  Mr.  Lancaster.  What- 
ever may  be  the  merits  of  the  schools  of  either  of 
these  gentlemen  in  other  respects,  (a  question  on  • 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  135 

which  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter,)  in  this  they  appear 
to  me  to  commit  such  an  offence  against  Christian 
morals,  that  no  merits  could  atone  for  it.  f  cannot 
but  think  emulation  an  unhallowed  principle  of  ac- 
tion ;— as  scarcely,  if  at  all,  to  be  disjoined  from  jea- 
lousy and  envy,  from  pride  and  contention  ; — incom- 
patible with  loving  our  neighbor  as  ourselves ; — and 
a  principle  of  such  potency  as  to  be  likely  to  engross 
the  mind,  and  turn  it  habitually  and  violently  from 
the  motives  which  it  should  be  the  great  business 
of  education  to  cherish  and  render  predominant ; 
namely,  a  sense  of  duty,  and  gratitude  and  love  to 
God.  Instead  of  enlarging  on  this  subject,  I  beg 
leave  to  refer  the  reader  to  Mr.  Gisborne's  remarks 
upon  it,  in  his  "  Duties  of  Women."  If  emulation 
is  an  unhallowed  motive,  it  cannot  innocently  be 
employed,  whatever  good  effects  may  be  expected 
from  it.  We  must  not  do  evil  that  good  may  come. 
But  if  any  Christian  should  deem  it  not  absolutely 
unhallowed,  few  will  deny,  I  think,  that  it  is  ques- 
tionable and  dangerous.  Even  then,  in  this  more 
favorable  view  of  emulation,  ought  it  to  be  used, 
except  it  can  be  shown  to  be  necessary  for  the  in- 
fusion of  vigor  into  the  youthful  mind,  and  for  se- 
curing a  respectable  progress  in  literature  ?  I  can 
say,  from  experience,  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  the 
attainment  of  those  ends.  In  a  numerous  family, 
with  which  I  am  well  acquainted,  emulation  has 
been  carefully  and  successfully  excluded,  and  yet 
the  acquirements  of  the  different  children  have  been 
very  satisfactory.  I  can  bear  the  same  testimony 
with  respect  to  a  large  Sunday  School,  with  which 


136  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

I  have  been  connected  f<;)r  many  years. — I  have  often 
heard  of  virtuous  emulation;  but  can  emulation  ever 
be  so  characterised  in  a  Christian  sense?  Whether 
it  may  in  that  loose  sense  of  virtue  which  those 
adopt  who  take  the  worldly  principle  of  honor  for 
their  rule,  I  will  not  stop  to  inquire. 

But  it  is  not  sufficient  not  to  excite  and  employ 
emulation  on  plan  and  system,  as  a  stimulus  in  edii- 
cation  :  great  care  ought  to  be  taken  to  exclude  it. 
And  great  care  will  be  necessary  ;  for  it  will  be  con- 
tinually ready  to  show  itself;  and  if  not  checked,  it 
will  soon  attain  strength,  strike  its  roots  deep  in  the 
heart,  and  produce  bitter  fruits,  which,  in  the  eyes 
of  a  Christian,  will  be  ill  compensated  by  the  extra- 
ordinary vigor  and  energy  it  will  give  to  scholastic 
studies.  When  examples  are  held  out  for  imitation, 
(a  very  different  thing,  be  it  always  remembered, 
from  emulation,)  or  as  warnings,  the  child  must  be 
made  sensible  that  its  state,  in  the  sight  of  God,  is 
rendered  neither  better  nor  worse  by  the  virtues  or 
the  faults  of  others,  except  as  far  as  they  may  have 
influenced,  or  may  have  failed  to  influence,  its  own 
conduct ; — that  it  ought  to  love  its  neighbor  as  itself, 
and  to  rejoice  in  every  advance  made  by  another  in 
what  is  good,  and  to  lament  over  all  his  faults  and 
defects,  without  one  selfish  thought  being  suffered 
to  check  the  joy  or  the  concern: — that  it  ought 
therefore  to  wish  all  its  companions  all  success  in 
their  common  studies  with  the  same  sincerity  with 
which  it  wishes  for  its  own  success,  and  to  be  af- 
fected by  their  faults  and  failures  in  the  same  man- 
ner it  would  by  its  own.  It  should  be  made  sensible, 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  137 

in  proportion  as  it  may  give  way  to  feelings  the  re- 
verse of  these,  that  its  "eye  will  be  evil  because 
others  are  good ;"  and  it  will  act  in  opposition  to  the 
injunction,  "  Mind  not  every  one  his  own  things,  but 
every  one  also  the  things  of  others  ;"  and  to  a  whole 
host  of  scriptural  precepts  and  examples.  These 
things  must  be  inculcated,  not  by  lectures  in  general 
terms,  but  by  applying  such  views  to  all  the  little 
incidents  which  call  for  them  as  they  successively 
arise.  The  child  must  also  be  made  sensible  how 
much  better  it  is  for  himself  that  his  companions 
should  be  eminent  for  laudable  attainments,  and  good 
qualities  ;  for  that,  in  proportion  to  their  excellence 
in  these  respects,  they  will  be  useful  and  estimable 
companions,  and  ought  to  be  objects  of  his  affection. 
All  little  boasts  of  having  done  better  than  this  or 
that  brother  or  sister,  and  every  disposition  to  dis- 
appointment when  they  succeed  best,  should  be 
checked,  and  the  lesson  of  "  rejoicing  with  them  that 
do  rejoice,  and  of  weeping  with  them  that  weep,^''  must 
be  very  diligently  inculcated. 

Lastly,  a  parent  must  take  special  care  always  to 
give  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ  a  most  decided  practical 
pre-eminence  above  all  others. — It  is  this  to  which  the 
child's  attention  must  be  continually  turned :  it  is 
this  which  he  must  be  taught  equally  to  love  and  to 
revere ;  it  is  this  alone  on  which  he  should  learn  to 
rely,  with  unvarying  confidence,  as  always  pure 
and  perfect.  In  addition  to  the  more  direct  and  im- 
mediate benefits  he  will  derive  from  thus  flying  to 
the  example  of  his  Saviour  for  guidance  in  his 
Christian  path,  he  will,  by  the  Divine  blessing,  be 

N   2 


138  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

powerfully  led  to  love  Him,  whose  blessed  image  Is 
so  frequently  before  his  eyes.  He  will  oljtain  that 
near  acquaintance  with  his  perfections, — that  fre- 
quent intercourse,  as  it  were,  with  Himself, — which 
will  call  forth  increasing  admiration,  and  reverence, 
and  regard.  Thus  will  commence  a  transformation 
into  a  similitude  of  that  excellence  which  has  found 
a  way  to  his  heart :  and,  "  beholding  as  in  a  glass 
the  glory  of  tlie  Lord,"  he  will  be  "changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord." 

But  all  endeavors  to  make  right  impressions  on 
the  mind  of  a  child  will  very  generally  be  found  in- 
effectual, if  the  character  of  the  parent  does  not 
correspond  with  his  instructions,  and  inspire  his 
child  with  esteem  and  affection.  It  is  surprising  how 
God  honors  his  own  image  among  men.  Faint  as 
it  is,  even  in  the  best,  still  its  proximity  gives  it 
effect,  and  it  exercises  a  portion  of  his  own  sovereign 
power  over  the  hearts  of  his  creatures.  This  has 
been  found  to  be  the  case  in  a  remarkable  manner 
among  savage  and  idolatrous  nations,  when  holy 
men  have  lived  for  a  length  of  time  among  them  as 
Missionaries.  Every  one  must  be  struck  with  the 
effect  produced  by  living  examples  of  the  Christian 
graces,  on  reading  the  accounts  of  the  Moravian 
Missions ;  and  still  more,  perhaps,  when  in  the  his- 
tory of  India  he  finds  what  a  wonderful  ascendancy 
the  holy  Swartz  obtained  over  the  Hindus  of  all 
ranks,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  But  it  is  un- 
necessary to  look  so  far  from  home,  to  be  convinced 
of  this  truth.     We  every  day  see  it  exemplified 


OF    CHRISTIAJ<    EDUCATION.  139 

among  ourselves  in  the  respect  and  affection  which 
good  men  generally  acquire,  when  their  light  has 
long  shone  before  the  same  neighbourhood.  If  the 
beauties  of  the  Christian  character  thus  recommend 
themselves  to  persons  of  mature  age,  whose  evil 
habits  are  ofl^n  so  confirmed,  and  whose  tastes  are 
so  vitiated,  it  will  not  be  matter  of  wonder  that  they 
should  have  peculiar  channs  for  the  minds  of  chil- 
dren. Let  a  parent  exhibit  this  character  with  con- 
sistency and  prudence,  and  he  will  seldom  fail  to  be 
loved  and  revered  by  his  children.  And  when  this 
is  the  case,  what 'authority  will  belong  to  his  ex- 
ample !  what  weight  to  all  his  admonitions !  what 
ready  attention  will  be  paid  to  his  very  wishes! 
The  difficulties  of  education  will  be  wonderfully 
•smoothed.  Ill-humor,  distate  to  particular  studies, 
impatience  under  restraints,  eye-service  and  deceit, 
a  disposition  to  look  on  a  parent  as  a  hard  master, 
not  to  mention  other  evils,  will  be  in  a  very  great 
.degree  avoided.  If  it  may  be  allowable  to  use  the 
Prophet's  language,  "  crooked  places  will  be  made 
straight,  and  rough  places  plain."  But  in  propor- 
tion as  a  parent  fails  to  resemble  in  character  that 
Divine  Being  who  appoints  him,  as  it  were,  his 
vicegerent  in  his  family,  this  picture  will  fail  to  be 
realized  ;  and  in  the  worst  cases  it  will  be  reversed. 
Let,  then,  every  parent  look  well  to  himself — Having 
touched  on  this  most  important  subject,  when  treat- 
ing of  education  at  an  earlier  age,  I  will  not  enlarge 
on  it  now.  I  cannot,  however,  omit  to  mention  an 
incident,  which  (thanks  to  God  !)  made  a  very  salu- 
tary impression  on  me  many  years  ago.    On  enter- 


140  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

ing  the  school-room  of  a  Moravian  Family,  I  saw, 
amidst  some  appropriate  inscriptions  on  the  wall, 
intended  as  momentos  to  the  children,  the  following 
one  put  up  by  the  teacher  for  her  own  use :  "  Never 
correct  in  anger."  Much  might  be  expected  in  a 
young  family  where  the  governess  was  so  conscious 
of  the  importance  of  strict  watchfulness  over  her- 
self, as  to  record,  in  the  face  of  her  scholars,  her 
own  condemnation,  if  she  should  ever  suffer  herself 
to  be  led  to  exercise  her  authority  in  one  of  its  most 
delicate  and  important  functions,,  when  disqualified 
by  a  v/ant  of  temper  fi'om  exercising  it  properly. 
Such  self-attention  could  not  be  confined  to  a  single 
point,  but,  having  entered  the  system,  would  pervade 
its  different  parts.  My  expectations  were  not  dis- 
appointed. A  more  estimable  teacher,  and  better 
taught,  better  principled,  more  affectionate,  more 
orderly,  and  more  happy  scholars,  I  think  I  never 
saw.  The  excellent  instructress  would  find,  in  her 
own  personal  improvement,  and  in  the  gratification 
she  could  not  fail  to  derive  from  the  state  of  her 
scholars,  and  from  their  respect  and  love,  a  tenfold 
recompense  for  all  her  resolute  self-scrutiny  and 
self-denial.  Let  us  follow  her  steps,  and  we  may  all 
humbly  hope  for  a  like  reward. 

It  is  my  object  to  propose,  for  the  consideration  of 
parents,  the  general  principles  in  education  which 
appear  to  me  to  form  the  right  foundation  for  such 
details  in  practice,  as  the  endless  variety  in  the  dis- 
positions of  children  may  require.  With  one  ex- 
ception, therefore,  I  shall  not  enter  on  a  considera- 
tion of  specific  faults.     This  exception  is  deceit.— I 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION. 


141 


select  this  vice,  not  because  it  is  pre-eminent  in  enor- 
mity, but  because  it  cherishes  all  other  vices,  by 
opposing  itself  to  the  means  employed  for  their 
removal.  By  the  secresy  in  which  it  delights,  and 
the  veil  which  it  casts  over  the  character,  it  prevents 
evils  from  being  clearly  discovered ;  and  by  assu- 
ming a  fair  appearance  of  repentance  when  they 
are  detected ;  and  sometimes  even  when  they  secretly 
exist  in  great  malignity,  by  making  a  specious  show 
of  the  opposite  virtues,  it  baffles  the  endeavors  of 
relations  to  remove  them,  and  completely  shuts  out 
genuine  repentance  and  reformation.  While  other 
vices  predominate  in  tJie  soul,  there  are  often  recur- 
rences of  deep  remorse  and  earnest  prayer,  and  of 
very  considerable  exertions  to  conquer  them ; — but 
deceit  usually  stifles  mental  pangs,  lulls  the  soul  into 
a  fatal  apathy,  and  employs  all  those  energies  in 
riveting  its  chains,  which  ought  to  be  exerted  for  its 
deliverance.  Other  vices  are,  generally,  neither 
present  at  all  times,  nor  regular  in  their  return  :  but 
deceit  is  always  at  work,  and  scarcely  allows  of  an 
interval,  in  which  the  soul  is  so  far  relieved  from 
its  immediate  influence  as  to  be  in  a  state  to  re- 
cover from  its  thraldom.  No  wonder,  then,  that 
this  vice  should  possess  an  awful  pre-eminence  in 
vitiating  the  character,  and  hardening  the  heart! 
In  our  blessed  Saviour's  severe  condemnation  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pliarisees,  where  he  accuses  them  of 
almost  every  species  of  crime,  their  hypocrisy  is 
placed  in  the  very  fore-front  of  their  offences,  and 
insisted  upon  again  and  again ;  '  Woe  unto  you, 
Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites !"    How,  anxious, 


i42  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

then,  should  a  parent  be  to  guard  every  avenue  to 
suc]i  a  crime,  by  checking  the  first  dawnings  of  art 
and  deceit,  whatever  appearance  they  may  assume, 
and  by  encouraging  truth,  ingenuousness,  and  sim- 
plicity of  character  in  every  possible  way.  The 
child  ought  to  be  armed  against  temptations  to  de 
ceit,  by  being  forewarned  on  what  occasions  they 
will  present  themselves,  and  instructed  by  what 
means  they  are  to  bQ  resisted.  He  sliould  also  be 
strongly  reminded,  when  such  occasions  actually 
occur,  of  the  existing  danger;  and  such  a  course 
should  be  pursued  by  the  parent  as  to  facilitate  his 
escape. 

Thus,  when  a  fault  has  been  committed  or  a  little 
difference  with  a  playfellow  has  occured,  and  an 
explanation  is  required  by  the  parent,  gi'eat  care 
should  be  taken  to  remind  the  child  of  the  duty 
of  truth  and  ingenuousness,  and  to  check  that 
eagerness  and  haste,  in  the  relation  of  circum- 
stances which  will  be  likely  to  lead  him  to  give 
a  false  color  to  them.  The  danger  of  his  pal- 
liating some  things,  and  exaggerating  others,  should 
be  pointed  out ;  and  while  he  is  kindly  warned 
how  giievously  his  fault  (if  he  should  have  com- 
mitted one)  would  be  aggravated  by  such  con- 
duct, the  loveliness  of  truth  and  candor  in  the 
eyes  both  of  God  and  man,  and  especially  under 
trying  circumstances,  should  be  set  before  him, 
and  he  should  receive  every  proper  encourage- 
ment to  adhere  to  them.  When  he  has  done 
his  duty  in  this  respect,  whatever  may  have  been 
amiss  in  his  preceding  conduct  should  be  noticed 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  143 

in  as  lenient  a  manner  as  is  compatible  with 
a  full  maintenance  of  the  distinction  between 
right  and  wrong,  and  a  due  sense  of  the  im- 
portance of  the  particular  case.  He  should  be 
made  to  feel  how  tenderly  he  is  treated  on  ac- 
count of  his  candor,  and  how  very  different  his 
treatment  would  have  been  had  he  acted  other- 
wise. But,  above  all,  he  should  be  made  sensible 
of  the  terrible  load  of  Divine  wrath  which  must 
press  upon  every  child  who  endeavors  to  hide 
or  excuse  a  fault  by  lies,  prevarication,  or  con- 
cealment :  of  the  impossibility  of  pardon  without 
repentance,  and  of  the  impossibility  of  cordial  re- 
pentance when  the  mouth  will  not  "  make  con- 
fession unto  salvation."  Tlien  should  be  described 
in  mild  and  sober,  but  warm  colors,  (warm  from 
the  lively,  parental  and  Christian  impressions 
whence  they  proceed,)  the  infinite  blessing  of  an 
approving  conscience,  and  of  that  peace  which 
passeth  all  understanding,  arising  from  a  sense 
of  sin  foi-given,  and  of  Divine  favor  restored, 
contrasted  with  the  corroding  sense  of  unpar- 
doned guilt,  and  of  being  subject  to  the  frown 
of  an  offended  God.  If  the  child  has  been  well- 
educated,  his  feelings  will  readily  respond  to  the 
notes  you  strike,  and  you  will  see  in  his  coun- 
tenance and  air  a  cordial  assent  to  the  scriptural 
representation,  that  "  the  ways  of  religion  are 
ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  peace ;" 
and  that  the  wicked  has  no  peace,  but  "is  like 
the  troubled  sea,  which  cannot  rest."— When  a  lie 
has  been   detected,  it  should    be    treated  as   one 


144  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

of  the  greatest  crimes,  and  every  endeavor  should 
be  used  to  fix  its  guilt  on  the  conscience,  and 
lead  the  culprit  to  deep  and  genuine  repentance. 
Even  much  lighter  instances  of  falsehood  should 
meet  with  very  serious  attention.  Pains  should 
be  taken  to  point  out  their  connexion  with  lies, 
and  their  derivation  from  the  same  principle, 
and,  consequently,  their  hatefulness  in  the  sight 
of  God.  The  conduct  which  ought  to  have  been 
pursued  by  the  child  should  be  particularized, 
and  its  beauty  and  happy  consequences  dwelt  up- 
on and  contrasted  with  the  deformity  of  the  fault 
which  he  has  committed,  and  the  guilt,  and  re- 
morse, and  parental  distrust,  and  Divine  dis- 
pleasure which  he  has  incurred. — Deceit  often 
takes  deep  root  in  a  child  from  such  jokes  and 
tricks  being  allowed  as  afford  it  encouragement. 
Jokes  and  tricks  are  not  only  generally  con- 
nected with  art,  but  very  frequently  derive  their 
supposed  merit  from  that  very  circumstance. 
Surely  this  is  playing  with  edged  tools !  The 
child,  who  is  allowed  to  sharpen  its  wits  in  over- 
reaching his  companions  in  joke,  will  soon  ac- 
quire a  taste  for  that  emploj'ment  of  his  faculties, 
and  simplicity  and  plain  dealing  will  appear  in- 
sipid to  him.  From  deceiving  in  jest,  he  will 
soon  proceed  to  deceive  in  earnest ;  and  the  plea- 
sure which  he  has  been  in  the  habit  of  deriving 
from  success  in  the  one  course  will  be  felt,  and 
perhaps  in  a  higher  degree,  from  success  in  the 
other.  Is  it  not  by  much  the  safer  course  to 
discountenance,    and  even  forbid,  the  exercise  of 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  145 

ing-enuity  in  the  way  that  has  boon  mentioned  ? 
God,  in  his  wisdom  and  fjoodness,  has  supplied 
an  abundance  of  innocent  means  of  exhilarating 
the  mind,  and  drawing  forth  its  powers,  and  many 
of  them  are  of  the  most  useful  kind.  Such  will 
present  themselves  to  every  parent,  and  leave  those 
without  excuse  who  permit  dangerous  habits  among 
their  children,  for  the  sake  of  improving  their  fa- 
culties, and  promoting  their  happiness.  I  would 
not  say,  as  the  poet  does  of  a  bold  peasantry, 
that  simplicity  and  integrity  of  mind. 

When  once  destroyed,  for  ever  will  be  lost ; 

but  I  believe,  that  of  all  good  dispositions  these 
are  restored  with  the  greatest  difficulty  when  art 
and  cunning,  and  deceit,  have  had  possession  of 
the  soul.  It  sometimes  happens,  that  the  harsh 
means  used  by  a  parent  to  eradicate  a  fault  lead 
the  child  to  deceit.  The  temptation  to  deny  his 
guilt,  and  escape  the  very  severe  punishment  he 
exi^ects,  is  almost  irresistible..  Sometimes  also  the 
methods  taken  to  extort  confession  when  a  fault 
is  strongly  suspected,  lead  to  a  false  confession, 
when  the  child  is  really  innocent.  With  what  hor- 
ror have  I  seen  a  lady  recollect  a  scene  of  this 
kind  in  which  she  was  engaged  when  a  child  !* 

One  of  the  most  pregnant  sources  of  deceit  in 
children  is  the  art  to    which  those  who  manage 

*  There  is  an  interesting  anecdote  on  this  subject  in  the  Chris- 
tian Observer,  vol.  ii.  p.  665. 

o 


14G  A    PRACTICAL    VIB>V 

them  have  recourse.  If  a  parent  is  disengenuous; 
if  he  employs  false  pretences  to  attain  his  ends  ; 
if  he  ailects  dispositions  which  he  does  not  feel  ; 
or  in  any  other  way  violates  truth  and  sincerity 
in  his  conduct  towards  his  child,  or  even  in  his 
conduct  towards  other  persons  in  the  presence  of 
his  child ;  he  may  be  assured  that  great  evil  will 
follow.  It  is  surprising  how  quick  children  are  in 
discovering  the  dispositions  and  motives  of  those 
about  them,  in  detecting  any  inconsistency  between 
their  practice  and  their  professions.  Tliis  acuteness 
and  sensibility,  however,  while  they  make  a  bad 
example  in  a  parent  extremely  dangerous,  give 
proportionate  weight  and  efficacy  to  a  good  one. 
Let  him  uniformly  adhere  to  simplicity  and  god- 
ly sincerity ;  let  him  yield  to  no  inducement  to 
violate  those  fundamental  and  beautiful  branches 
of  tlie  Christian  character,  by  any  appearances  of 
present  expediency,  either  in  the  management  of 
his  child  or  in  any  other  part  of  his  conduct ;  and 
employing  at  the  same  time  other  fit  means  to 
promote  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  offspring,  he 
may  look  forward  with  confidence  to  a  happy  re- 
sult. His  example  will  be  a  daily  lecture  of  the 
most  impressive  kind.  But  no  soundness  of  doc- 
trine, no  industry  in  teaching,  no  ability  in  per- 
suation,  will  be  sufficient  to  affiDrd  him  a  rati- 
onal hope  of  success,  if  his  own  example  is  op- 
posed to  his  instructions,  and  the  child  has  reason 
to  suspect  that  he  is  acting  a  part. 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EOUCATIOA.  147 


CHAP.  VIU. 

JlUention  to  Children  when  not  at  their  Lessons. — Amme- 
ments. — Behaviour  of  Children  to  each  other. —  Quarrels. 
— A  Domineering  or  a  Teasing  Spirit. — Selfishness 
and  Jealousy. —  Conduct  of  the  two  Sexes  to  each  other. 
— Domestic  Effects  in  well  and  ill  educated  Families  con- 
trasted.— .Acquaint ance. — Familiarity  with  Servants. 

I  HAVE  intimated  the  necessity  of  a  viligant  at- 
tention to  cliildren,  during  the  time  when  they  are 
not  engaged  by  their  lessons  ;  and  I  must  now 
dwell  a  little  on  this  important  branch  of  my 
subject. 

If  the  primary  object  in  education  be  to  put 
things  in  the  most  favorable  state  for  the  for- 
mation of  a  new  creature,  through  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  opposition  to  the  strong 
bent  of  Nature,  how  can  it  be  hoped  that  this 
will  be  effected,  if,  during  great  part,  and  in  early 
childhood  by  far  the  gi-eatest  part,  of  every  day, 
Nature  is  suffered  to  take  her  course  with  only 
partial  and  irregular  counteraction  from  the  pa- 
rent ;  and  if  the  new  principle  and  spirit  to  be 
infused  and  cherished  meet  with  as  partial  and 
irregular  support  ?  We  all  know,  that  in  the 
moral  as  in  the  natural  world,  powerful  and  sys- 


148  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

tematic  tendencies  will  nut  fail  to  produce  a  large 
share  of  their  appropriate  effects,  unless  opposed 
by  what  is  also  powerful  and  systematic.  Thus 
in  the  planetary  system,  the  constant  force  of 
gravity  is  only  balanced  by  the  centrifugal  force, 
equally  constant ;  and  in  our  political  system,  the 
tendency  of  each  of  the  branches  which  form  the 
legislature  to  increase  its  own  power,  would  not 
be  kept  in  check,  if  the  other  two  bodies  were  not 
continually  ready  to  resist  incroachments,  either 
by  the  exercise  of  their  constitutional  powers,  or 
(as  is  generally  the  case  in  practice)  by  their  in- 
fluence. Is  then  the  natural  tendency  of  man  to 
evil  the  only  uniform  tendency  which  does  not  re- 
quire constant  counteraction  ?  And  is  it  in  his 
earliest  years,  before  settled  habits  of  virtue  are 
formed,  and  before  systematic  caution  and  recol- 
lection to  guard  against  deflections  from  the  right 
path  are  acquired,  that  we  can  safely  dispense 
with  such  counteraction  ?  The  prudent  Christian 
father  will  judge  far  otherwise.  His  parental  watch- 
fulness will  be  as  unremitting  as  circumstances 
will  allow,  and  the  care  and  earnestness  with 
which  it  will  be  employed  will  be  in  some  mea- 
sure proportionate  to  the  supreme  importance  of 
the  object  to  be  attained.  I  will  proceed  to  point 
out  some  leading  points,  which  will  require  at- 
tention when  the  child  is  out  of  the  schoal-room. 

First  then  with  respect  to  amusements. — Of  these 
God  has  made  a  most  liberal  provision,  and  \ 
need  not  show  that  they  are  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  children.    The  parent  ought  to  take  care 


OF    CiiRISTUK    KHUCATION.  149 

that  Uicy  are  not  only  harmless,  but  as  useful 
as  pc^ssible  :  and  very  useful  they  may  be  rend- 
ered, if  he  give  his  attention  to  this  point  with  just 
views  of  human  nature  and  of  vital  religion.  By 
being  forward  to  promote  his  child's  pleasures,  he 
will  increase  his  affection,  and  gain  his  confidence, 
and  sweeten  the  restraints  and  labors  of  the  school- 
room : — by  guiding  him  in  the  selection  of  them, 
he  will  show  him  practically  what  a  natural  pro- 
pensity children  have  to  sinful  gratification,  but 
what  a  sting  such  gratifications  leave  behind  them  ; 
and  also  what  an  abundance  of  innocent  plea- 
sures our  all-bountifal  God  has  placed  within  our 
I'each.  He  will  make  him  sensible  how  frequently, 
wJiile  amusing  himself,  he  may  promote  the  hap- 
piness of  others,  and  cherish  just  principles  and 
good  dispositions  in  his  own  bosom  :  and  that  plea- 
sures v/hich  produce  such  fruits  will  generally  be 
the  sweetest  in  immediate  enjoyment,  and  still 
sweeter  in  retrospect.  He  will  also  communicate 
much  useful  knowledge,  while  his  child  thinks 
only  of  his  own  amusement ;  and  he  will  disco- 
ver many  a  fault  and  many  a  promising  disposition, 
which  would  scarcely  have  shown  themselves  a- 
midst  the  restraints  of  the  school-room.  He  will 
often  find  himself  able  to  correct  the  one  without 
any  grave  process  for  that  purpose;  and  he  will 
take  advantage  of  the  other  at  a  season  when  the 
openness  of  the  heart  and  the  flow  of  the  affec- 
tions give  him  the  best  opportunity  of  connecting  it 
with  Christian  principle,  and  of  giving  it  a  holy  di- 
rection.    Above  all,  he  will  make  him  sensible  how 


150  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

conducive  good  principles  are  to  pleasure ;  that  not 
only  he  is  the  happy  maw,  but 

He  is  the  happy  hoy,  whose  life  ev'n  now, 
Shows  somewhat  of  that  happier  life  to  come : — 

that  the  ways  of  religion  are  "  ways  of  pleasant- 
ness, and  all  her  paths  are  peace."  This  will  be 
done  by  leading  him  to  compare  the 

Solid  and  heartfelt  delight 

which  he  has  enjoyed  in  amusements  sanctioned  by 
the  Divine  approbation,  with  the  anxiety  and  the 
fears  which  must  attend  guilty  pleasures,  and  the 
remorse  which  must  follow  them.  He  will  thus 
begin  to  learn  from  his  own  experience,  that 

True  piety  is  cheerful  as  the  day  ; 

and  that  the  misgivings  and  forebodings  of  a  troubled 
conscience  must  poison  every  enjoyment.  And  this 
truth  early  fixed,  and  strongly  felt  at  the  time  of 
life  when  the  sensibily  is  all  alive,  will  do  much,  by 
God's  blessings,  towards  securing  him  from  the 
power  of  temptations  not  only  in  childhood,  but  at 
subsequent  periods,  when  many  of  them  will  attack 
him  with  greater  force.— Let  it  not  be  thought,  that 
the  age  of  the  parent  will  unfit  him  for  promoting 
the  pleasures  of  his  child  in  his  play-hours.  On  the 
contrary,  if,  instead  of  forcing  amusements  upon  the 
child,  he  suffers  him  to  follow,  in  a  great  measure, 
the  bent  of  his  inclinations,  and  merely  prevents 


nv    CHKISTIAN    EDUrATION.  151 

every  thing  wrong,  while  he  now  and  then  lends  his 
aid  to  remove  little  obstacles  and  to  forward  his 
child's  objects,  he  will  find  himself  a  very  acceptable 
companion.  He  will  admire  the  Divine  wisdom  and 
benevolence,  which,  while  it  makes  youth  the  joy  of 
age,  thus  enables  age,  not  only  to  guide  the  inex- 
perience, but  to  sweeten  the  pleasures  of  youth. 

But  a  parent  must  not  expect  to  be  a  pleasing  and 
useful  companion  to  his  child,  without  making  some 
sacrifices.  As  in  the  material,  so  in  the  moral  and 
intellectual  worlds,  there  is  no  region  in  which  those 
who  will  not  submit  to  the  toil  of  culture  can  expect 
a  hai'vest.  He  must  often  forego  his  own  wishes,  to 
meet  those  of  his  child.  During  a  walk,  for  instance, 
he  must  be  content  to  break  the  thread  of  his  own 
thoughts  to  give  explanations  which  cannot  but 
appear  to  him  trifling,  and  to  hear  remarks  which 
convey  to  him  no  information.  At  one  time,  he 
may  be  requested  to  look  at  a  pebble  when  he  was 
ruminating  on  the  re-establishment  of  the  indepen- 
dence of  Europe ;  and  at  another,  he  may  be  called 
to  cut  a  twig  from  a  tree  when  looking  at  a  fine 
passage  in  Milton.  If,  however,  he  form  a  right 
estimate  of  education,  he  will  bear  such  inteiTup- 
tions  with  complacency ;  and  reflect,  that  the  pebble 
and  the  twig,  viewed  in  connection  with  their  con- 
comitant circumstances,  may  probably  be,  at  that 
time,  more  important  objects  of  his  attention  than 
European  Politics  or  our  great  Epic  Poet.  And 
when,  at  the  close  of  the  day,  he  reviews  its  events, 
with  how  much  greater  pleasure  will  he  look  back 
on  ^uch  little  instances  of  self-denial,  and  on  the 


15:2  A     PRACTICAL    VIEW 

advantage  he  may  hope  that  his  boy  has  received 
from  them,  than  he  could  on  his  speculations  re- 
specting tlie  happy  results  of  the  late  war,  or  on  the 
pleasure  which  he  derived  from  the  noble  flights  of 
Milton. — Not  that  a  parent  is  to  give  up  all  his  time 
to  his  children.  This  surrender  would  be  incompa- 
tible with  the  discharge  of  his  other  duties.  But  he 
will  do  well,  I  think,  in  allotting  to  their  society,  and 
without  allowing  the  intervention  of  such  company 
as  would  prevent  him  from  giving  to  them  his  atten- 
tion, a  portion  of  the  time  which  he  sets  apart  for 
recreation. 

In  superintending  the  amusements  of  children,  it 
is  important  to  give  them  a  taste  for  those  which 
are  not  expensive  and  are  easily  obtained,  and  which 
are  calculated  to  draw  forth  ingenuity,  and  to  exer- 
cise bodily  and  mental  powers.  Such  as  are  expen- 
sive—as have  little  but  novelty  to  recommend  them 
— as  have  any  connection  with  mischief  or  deceit,  or 
are  likely  to  give  pain  to  any  companion,  or  even  to 
any  of  the  brute  creation— ought  to  be  carefully 
avoided. — It  is  obvious,  that  games  of  violent  com- 
petition are  very  likely  to  lead  to  evil ;  and  indeed, 
all  competition  is  dangerous  in  a  greater  or  a  less 
degree,  and  calls  for  vigilant  attention  on  the  part 
of  a  parent,  especially  where  the  competition  is 
direct  and  palpable,  and  the  temper  of  the  cliild  is 
sanguine  and  ardent.  It  should  be  a  rule  in  a  game 
of  competition,  that  as  soon  as  a  cliild  shows  any 
unfairness  or  wrong  temper,  or  plays  in  a  way 
likely  to  excite  bad  tempers  in  others,  he  is  no  longer 
to  be  considered  as  fit  for  such  a  sport,  and  must 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  153 

leave  it  to  those  who  have  more  generous  integrity, 
gentleness,  and  self-command.  If  he  can  himself  be 
made  sensible  of  his  weakness,  and  brought  into  a 
disposition  voluntarily  to  relinquish  an  amusement 
which  in  his  case  involves  a  breach  of  duty,  this  will 
be  far  better  than  the  exercise  of  parental  authority : 
but  if  his  passions  are  too  far  engaged  to  admit  of 
this  victory  of  reason  and  principle,  the  parent  must 
interfere  with  such  decision  as  to  stop  the  progress 
of  mischief  Sedentary  games  of  chance  or  skill, 
as  drafts,  are  certainly  dangerous,  when  in  frequent 
use,  and  I  think  that  they  are  better  avoided  alto- 
gether. They  are  objectionable,  partly  because  they 
are  sedentary,  and  therefore  ill-suited  to  an  age 
when  lively  exercise  is  so  natural  and  so  conducive 
to  health  and  vigor ;  partly,  because  their  very  es- 
sense  is  competition ;  but  chiefly,  because  they  may 
give  a  taste  for  cards,  and  perhaps  for  gaming. 
Little  gardens  distributed  amongst  the  children  of  a 
family,  and  to  be  managed  entirely  by  themselves, 
are  admirable  sources  of  amusement.  A  few  small 
tools  and  implements  of  carpentry,  in  a  father's 
custody,  to  be  lent  occasionally  to  his  children,  an- 
swer an  excellent  purpose ;  and  particularly  if  he  is 
qualified  to  assist  a  little,  when  difficulties  occur  in 
the  use  of  them. 

But  whatever  are  the  favorite  amusements,  which 
will  vary  with  the  age,  sex,  and  natural  turn  of 
mind,  nwderation  in  them  is  of  the  highest  importance. 
Children  ought  to  learn  early  that  life  and  all  our 
faculties  are  given  to  us  rather  for  business  than  for 
pleasure;  that  they  are  talents  to  be  employed  in 


154  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

our  Lord's  service,  and  must  not  be  wasted  in  idienesf? 
or  frivolous  pursuits.  Amusement  must  be  represent- 
ed as  no  longer  innocent,  when  encroaching  on  the 
time  which  ought  to  be  employed  in  serious  occupa- 
tions, to  which  it  must  always  be  considered  as  subor- 
dinate. It  must  be  represented  as  truly  sweet,  (such 
is  the  wise  and  gracious  connection  which  God  has 
appointed  between  pleasure  and  duty,)  only  when 
confined  within  due  bounds;  and  as  producing 
satiety — as  engrossing  the  mind,  and  alienating  it 
from  God — as  generating  bad  passions — and  as  lead- 
ing to  shame  and  remorse,  and  to  eternal  ruin,  when 
it  occupies  the  chief  place  in  the  heart.  Thus  per- 
sons who  have  given  themselves  up  to  wickedness, 
are  described  in  Scripture  as  "lovers  of  pleasure 
more  than  lovers  of  God ;"  and  the  rich  man  in  the 
parable  is  said  to  be  tonnented  in  hell,  because  in 
this  life  his  great  object  was  to  indulge  in  pleasure. 
This  is  a  point,  in  which  young  people  are  very  apt 
to  transgress. 

There  is  one  amusement  which  I  have  reserved 
for  separate  consideration ;  because,  while  it  affords 
high  gratification,  it  is  also,  under  proper  manage- 
ment, a  most  important  source  of  improvement, — 
but  if  subject  to  no  regulations,  it  is  pregnant  with 
the  greatest  evils.  I  speak  of  private  reading.  Of 
late  years,  a  great  variety  of  little  books  extremely 
well  calculated  to  amuse  children,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  make  virtue  lovely  and  vice  hateful,  have 
been  sent  into  the  world.  These  should  be  carefuU}'^ 
selected  from  the  great  mass  of  indifferent  and  mis- 
chievous publications;  and  one  or  another  of  them 


OF    CHRISTIAN     EDUCATION.  155 

will  generally  take  the  fancy  of  a  ohil«l,  as  soon  as 
he  can  read  with  tolerable  ease.  When  he  once 
begins  to  amnse  himself  in  this  way,  a  great  point  is 
gained.  Time  will  never  hang  heavy  on  his  hands : 
he  will  make  rapid  progress  in  reading:  much 
knowledge  will  be  gained;  his  faculties  will  be 
drawn  forth ;  his  taste  will  receive  a  right  direction ; 
and  good  principles  will  take  firmer  hold  of  his 
mind.  Care  must  be  taken,  however,  that  he  does 
not  read  too  much,  or  too  rapidly.  He  may  become 
a  devourer  of  little  books,  and  read  every  thing,  and 
remember  little.  To  counteract  this  tendency,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  assist  in  giving  him  right  im- 
pressions from  his  reading,  it  will  be  useful  to  in- 
duce him,  by  a  few  leading  questions,  proposed  with 
kindness  and  in  a  familiar  manner,  to  relate  the 
stories  which  have  interested  him.  This  practice,  if 
not  pressed  too  far,  or  suffered  to  wear  the  air  of  a 
lesson,  will  generally  be  an  agreeable  amusement ; 
and  it  will  afford  a  parent  great  opportunities  of 
discovering  the  turn  of  the  child's  mind,  and  of 
giving  it  a  right  direction.  It  will  also  be  necessary 
to  guard  against  bad  effects  from  the  short  abstracts 
of  histories,  which,  by  acquainting  him  with  the 
leading  facts,  diminish,  at  a  future  period,  the  inter- 
est of  the  histories  themselves,  and  indispose  him  for 
going  through  their  details.  In  order  to  avoid  this 
evil,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  that  such  abstracts 
should  be  sparingly  used. 

From  the  subjects  of  amusement,  I  must  pass  to 
one  nearly  allied  to  it ;  and  say  a  little  on  the  way 
in  which  children  of  the  same  family  should  conduct 


156  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

themselves,  each  towards  the  other. — At  the  very 
early  period  of  life  now  under  consideration,  play 
will  occupy  a  large  portion  of  the  time  not  employed 
in  the  school-room ;  and  much  happiness  or  vexa- 
tion, advantage  or  injury,  must  be  derived  from  the 
dispositions  which  accompany  it.     When  the  spirits 
are  high  and  the  passions  warm,  and  when  the  ob- 
jects in  view  are  interesting,  children  will  always  be 
in  danger  of  giving  way  to  selfishness,  and  of  falling 
into  little  quarrels ;  and  if  the  evil  is  suffered  to  pro- 
ceed, contradictions,    criminations,    misrepresenta- 
tions, falsehoods,  hard  names,  threats,  and  perhaps 
blows  will  follow.    If  such  scenes  are  often  repeated, 
domestic  love  and  harmony  will  give  place  to  mu- 
tual dislike  and  alienation ;  to  tyranny  in  the  elder, 
and  to  an  abject  or  a  bitter  spirit  in  the  younger, 
who,  in  their  turn  will  often  be  disposed  to  repay 
themselves  for  their  sufferings  by  domineering  over 
those  below  them.     If  tyranny  produces  slavery,  it 
also  produces  tyranny.   What  a  scene  does  a  family 
present,  when  under  the  influence  of  such  passions, 
and  addicted  to  such  habits!    What  obstacles  are 
opposed  to  meekness  and  gentleness,  candor  and 
forbearance :  to  the  charity  which  "  thinketh  no  evil;" 
which  "  suffereth  long  and  is  kind ;"  which  "  beareth 
all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  tilings,  en- 
dure th  all  things :"  to  the  love  of  man,  and  therefore, 
to  that  which  cannot  exist  without  it,  the  love  of 
God!     "He  who  loveth  not  his  brother  whom  he 
hath  seen,  how  can  he  love  God  whom  he  Iiath  not 
seen?" — I  dwell  the  more  on  this  point,  because 
many,  who  would  be  shocked  by  quarrels  among 


OP   CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  lOt 

their  friends,  see  tJiem  take  place  among  cJiildren 
with  very  little  concern.  Do  not  contentions  spring 
in  both  cases  from  the  same  root  ?  And  is  not  the 
fruit  which  they  produce,  however  different  in  form 
and  appearance,  essentially  of  the  same  species? 
Surely  then,  the  utmost  pains  should  be  taken  to 
prevent  and  to  heal  differences,  and  to  promote  har- 
mony in  a  young  family.  It  is  by  no  means  suf- 
ficient to  silence  a  dispute  by  the  voice  of  authority, 
and  to  keep  down  all  outward  expressions  of  disa- 
greement. The  evil  may  yet  remain  in  the  heart, 
and  rankle  there  in  all  its  malignity.  Persevering 
pains  must  be  taken  to  eradicate  it.  A  Christian 
parent  on  such  occasions  will  show  his  child  from 
what  tempers  quarrels  arise,  and  make  him  sensible, 
by  God's  blessing,  of  the  hatefulness  of  such  tem- 
pers, and  of  their  contrariety  to  the  character  of  his 
God  and  Saviour.  He  will  pourtray,  in  simple  but 
glowing  colors,  the  beauty  of  the  opposite  tempers, 
their  tendency  to  conciliate  affection  and  esteem  in 
this  world,  and  to  promote  that  renewal  in  the  Di- 
vine image  which  is  indispensable  to  a  union  with 
Christ  in  the  next.  He  will  give  additional  force  to 
these  general  topics  by  bringing  into  view  all  the 
claims  to  forbearance  and  to  love  which  belong  to 
the  child  with  whom  the  quarrel  has  arisen;  and 
the  grief  and  the  bad  consequences  which  attend 
such  family  differences,  and  the  happiness  and  the 
numerous  advantages  of  mutual  kindness.  Nor 
will  he  rest  satisfied,  till  he  sees  all  the  remains  of 
ill-will  give  way,  and  the  child  brought  into  a  frame 
of  mind  candidly  and  cordially  to  make  every  re- 


158  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

quisite  acknowledgment  to  his  play-fellow,  and  to 
desire  a  complete  reconciliation.  While  the  parent 
is  bringing  matters  to  this  issue,  he  will  be  particu- 
larly careful  to  show,  that  although  he  is  impartial, 
and  can  see  in  a  true  light  the  faults  of  both  sides  ; 
yet  it  becomes  the  child  to  think  only  of  his  own 
guilt,  and  to  be  anxious  for  forgiveness  from  God 
and  man,  and  for  the  restoration  of  cordial  har- 
mony. 

In  the  observations  which  have  been  made  on 
quarrels,  a  domineering  spirit  has  been  slightly  men- 
tioned as  connected  with  them.  But  this  spirit  re- 
quires farther  attention.  It  is  the  natural  fruit  of 
the  two  leading  evils  in  our  nature,  selfishness  and 
pride ;  and  therefore  a  parent  must  not  be  surprised 
to  see  it  among  his  children.  The  elder  will  expect 
a  compliance  with  their  wishes  and  humors  on  the 
part  of  the  younger ;  the  boys  will  exact  obedience 
from  the  girls  of  nearly  the  same  age ;  and  they 
will  all  be  disposed  to  assert  a  superiority  over  some 
of  the  servants.  I  have  seen  a  young  urchin,  in  the 
nursery,  play  the  tyrant  with  a  high  hand  over  his 
maid:  and  sometimes,  little  creatures,  who  should 
be  practising  submission  and  deference  towards 
their  elder  relations,  presume  on  the  fondness  of  one 
or  another  of  them— an  aunt  perhaps,  or  even  a 
mother — and  behave  in  a  manner  as  injurious  to 
themselves,  as  it  is  revolting  to  all  who  witness  the 
unnatural  scene. — I  need  not  enlarge  on  this  subject 
to  make  a  Christian  parent  sensible  of  its  impor- 
tance. He  will  recollect,  that  humility  and  sub- 
mission are  the  very  foundations  of  religion,  and  of 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  159 

the  wJiole  range  of  religious  tempers;  tliat  there 
cannot  be  a  greater  solecism  than  a  self-willed  or  a 
tyrannical  Christian :  that  he  who  would  be  high  in 
the  kingdom  of  the  lowly  Saviour,  must  be  "  least 
of  ail,  and  servant  of  all ;"  that  the  most  impetuous 
and  high-minded  by  nature  of  all  the  Apostles,  when 
matured  in  his  Christian  course,  said  with  unusual 
emphasis,  "  Yea,  all  of  you  be  subject  one  to  ano- 
ther, and  be  clothed  with  humility."  He  will  there- 
fore by  no  means  view  this  point  with  indifference : 
he  will  not  leave  things  to  find  their  own  level,  as 
the  phrase  is,  in  his  young  family :  much  less  will  he 
be  dazzled  by  the  appearance  of  spirit  in  a  boy  of 
activity  and  vigor,  who  aspires  to  be  the  master  of 
all  about  him.  He  will  earnestly  inculcate  mutual 
kindness  and  forbearance  and  condescension ;  which 
all  should  be  forward  in  exercising,  but  backward  in 
requiiTung: — he  will  inculcate,  that  true  fortitude 
and  greatness  of  mind  show  themselves  in  nothing 
more  clearly  than  in  not  being  overcome  of  evil, 
but  in  overcoming  evil  with  good :  he  wOl  dwell  on 
the  beauty  of  a  character  which  obtains  such  victo- 
ries— on  the  evil  prevented  and  the  happiness  dif- 
fused by  them — on  their  value  in  the  sight  of  God — 
and  on  their  important  influence  in  promoting  some 
faint  resemblance  of  Him  who,  with  all  his  meekness 
and  lowliness,  was  a  perfect  pattern  of  holy  forti- 
tude, and  at  length  died  for  his  enemies.  These 
topics  will  furnisli  abundant  matter  for  impressing 
the  young  mind ;  and  if  that  of  the  parent  is  in  true 
harmony  with  them,  they  will  be  seldom  used  in 
vain.    There  will,  however,  be  frequent  recurrences 


160  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

of  the  fault  in  question,  where  the  temper  is  san- 
guine and  eager,  and  still  more  where  there  is  a 
tendency  to  jealousy  or  passion.  In  such  cases,  a 
parent  will  find  it  of  the  highest  importance  to 
watch  his  own  temper ;  for  equanimity  and  tender- 
ness in  the  use  of  his  authority,  joined  to  constant 
firmness,  will  do  much  towards  repressing  a  do- 
mineering spirit  in  his  children.  These  qualities 
will  put  to  the  blush  the  impatience,  and  violence 
and  thirst  of  power,  which  may  appear  among  his 
little  ones,  and  lead  them  by  sympathy  to  a  better 
spirit :  while  the  display  of  tempers  at  all  similar  to 
theirs,  however  it  might  terrify  the  culprits  into  in- 
stant submission,  would  leave  a  fire  covered  with 
ashes,  but  unsubdued,  and  ready  to  break  forth  again 
with  undiminished  force. 

Sometimes,  a  nursery  is  infected  by  a  spirit  of 
teasing  in  some  of  its  inmates:  a  spirit  which  is 
often  combined  with  much  cunning,  and  delights  in 
drawing  a  playfellow  of  a  more  unguarded  nature 
into  imprudences  and  excesses,  and  then  in  laying 
all  the  blame  upon  him.  This  mean  habit  must  be 
strictly  watched.  It  is  the  bane  of  every  thing  kind 
and  generous,  and  leads  to  systematic  deceit  and 
falsehood.  Hasty  quarrels  leave  little  of  bad  leaven 
behind  them,  compared  with  this  cold  blooded  and 
odious  practice. 

Selfishness  and  jealousy  generally  appear  very 
early  in  children,  and  are  amongst  the  most  una- 
miable  of  all  the  bad  dispositions  inherited  from 
our  First  Parents.  Every  mother  can  testify  what 
reluctance  children  show  by  nature,  to  giving  or 


()|-    CHRISTIAN     EDUCATION.  1  <>  I 

lending  their  own  playthings;  how  eagerly  they 
grasp  at  those  which  belong  to  others ;  how  ear- 
nestly they  contend  for  the  first  occupancy  of  such  as 
are  a  sort  of  common  property ;  how  ardently  they 
long  for  any  thing  when  another  child  is  playing 
with  it ;  and  how  indifferent  to  it  they  often  become 
as  soon  as  he  has  relinquished  it.  And  with  respect 
to  jealousy,  the  original  bias  is  quite  as  striking. 
Even  infants  show  it,  when  the  women  that  have 
the  charge  of  them  bestow  caresses  on  other  chil- 
dren ;  and  in  subsequent  years,  though  the  feeling 
is  known  to  be  wrong,  and  its  outward  expression  is 
in  a  measure  restrained,  yet  from  time  to  time  evi- 
dent symptoms  of  it  appear. 

It  is  needless  to  say,  that  such  feelings  siiould  be 
repressed :  they  are  not  only  evidently  incompatible 
with  the  law  of  love,  but  are  condemned  even  by 
the  lax  code  of  worldly  morality.  Let  every  parent 
be  indefatigable  in  his  endeavors  to  correct  them: 
and  let  him  constantly  bear  in  mind,  that  merely  to 
check  outward  appearances,  will  by  no  means  be 
sufficient ;  that  the  child  who  is  subject  to  such  tem- 
pers is  conscious  of  their  baseness,  and  naturally 
desirous  of  concealing  them ;  and  that  the  object  in 
view  can  be  attained  only  by  the  eradication  of  the 
evil  itself  from  the  heart,  and  by  the  implantation  of 
those  Christian  virtues  which  are  opposed  to  it.  This 
must  be  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  whose  humble 
instrument  the  parent  may  be  in  cleansing  and  pre- 
paring the  soil,  and  in  sowing  the  good  seed. 

The  proper  conduct  of  the  two  sexes,  each  to 
wards  the  other,  is  of  high  importance,  even  at  this 
p  2 


162  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

early  age.  Boys  are  apt  to  feel  their  strength  and 
hardihood,  and  not  to  treat  girls  as  they  ought;  and 
sometimes,  I  fear,  girls  presuming  on  their  exemp- 
tion from  that  kind  of  treatment  which  impertinence 
experiences  among  boys,  give  to  their  tongues  liber- 
ties which  are  subversive  of  family  concord.  In 
addition  to  the  immediate  evils  flowing  from  this 
state  of  things,  a  foundation  is  laid  for  still  greater 
in  future  life.  In  the  whole  range  of  associations 
between  persons  of  different  sexes,  the  consequent 
advantages  extremely  depend  on  the  maintenance 
of  fixed  and  habitual  sentiments  of  mutual  respect. 
Such  sentiments  are  essential  to  delicacy  and  ten- 
derness in  men,  and  to  willing  deference  and  sub- 
mission in  women,  and  to  cordial  affection  in  nearer 
relations  of  life  on  both  sides.  How  desirable,  then, 
is  it,  that  the  foundations  of  right  feelings  and  right 
conduct  should  be  laid  in  early  life :  and  how  well 
employed  is  the  attention  by  which  this  object  is  ef- 
fected !  It  would  be  necessary,  were  the  subsequent 
stages  of  education  brought  under  review,  to  treat 
this  subject  with  more  particularity. 

And  can  we  pass  on  to  other  topics  without  re- 
flecting for  a  few  moments  on  the  delightful  specta- 
cle of  a  young  family  living  together  in  hannony 
that  is  seldom  interrupted  by  contentions,  over- 
bearing conduct,  rivalries,  jealousies,  or  suspicions : 
a  family  in  which  contentment,  love,  generosity, 
mutual  forbearance,  and  a  spirit  of  mutual  accom- 
modation, founded  on  Christian  principles,  are  the 
prominent  dispositions,  and  in  which  the  perfor- 
mance of  daily  duties,  and  the  promotion  and  par- 


OF    CHllISTIAN    EDUCATION.  163 

ticipation  of  the  general  happiness,  appear  to  be  the 
leajling  occupation?  Struck  with  the  beauty  of 
such  a  scene,  one  who  was  familiar  with  family 
discord  exclaimed,  "  Behold  how  good  and  how 
pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity!" 
In  such  a  family,  adversity  will  seldom  inflict  a  deep 
or  lasting  wound.  Many  sweet  drops  will  find  their 
way  into  the  bitter  cup :  and  in  no  long  time  tears 
will  be  succeeded  by  smiles,  and  a  recollection  of  the 
trial  may  be  attended,  perhaps,  with  not  more  pain 
than  pleasure. 

If  we  were  to  look  round  for  the  opposite  picture, 
should  we  not  find  it  presenting  so  many  deep 
shades  of  depravity  and  wretchedness  as  to  make 
us  shudder  at  the  view  ?  I  will  not  give  myself  and 
my  readers  the  pain  of  contemplating  the  scene 
more  closely.  Were  we  to  do  so,  we  should  be  all 
ready  to  exclaim  with  Isaiah,  "  There  is  no  peace, 
saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked !"  and  with  St.  James 
"  Where  envying  and  strife  is,  there  is  confusion  and 
every  evil  work." 

All  the  benefits  of  a  useful  education  may  be  lost 
by  acquaintance  with  children  of  bsid  habits.  Such 
is  the  natural  propensity  to  evil;  so  great  is  the 
vivacity,  the  curiosity,  the  love  of  novelty,  and  the 
want  of  caution  at  a  tender  age :  so  lively  is  the 
sympathy,  so  active  the  spirit  of  imitation;  that 
even  occasional  intercourse  with  dangerous  com- 
panions will  seldom  fail  to  be  highly  injurious  to 
children.  Surely  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  keep 
them  as  much  as  possible  from  moral  contagion, 
till   they  have  accjiuired  some  strength  to  resist  it. 


Itl4  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

If  the  weakness  of  man  is  such,  that  our  Saviour,  iri 
giving  a  short  Prayer  for  universal  use  in  his  church, 
saw  fit  to  insert  in  it  the  petition,  "Lead  us  not 
into  temptation,"  how  much  must  it  be  the  duty  of 
a  Christian  parent  to  preserve  the  little  creatures 
committed  to  his  care,  whose  good  principles  and 
habits  are  as  yet  unfixed  and  infirm,  from  a  species 
of  temptation  most  seductive  and  dangerous  ?  They 
must  at  length  go  forth  into  an  evil  world :  but  they 
ought  to  be  prepared  against  its  allurements  by  edu- 
cation, and  introduced  to  them  by  degrees.  At  this 
early  age,  the  tender  plant  should  be  preserved  with 
care  from  the  frosts,  and  storms,  and  droughts, 
which  it  will  be  better  able  to  encounter  at  a  future 
period,  if  guarded  and  sheltered  while  its  stem  is 
weak,  and  its  roots  are  few  and  superficial.  But 
besides  the  present  danger  from  undesirable  com- 
panions, a  foundation  is  often  laid  for  bad  connec- 
tions in  future  life.  The  little  play-fellows  become 
attached,  and  wish  to  keep  up  their  acquaintance  in 
succeeding  years :  and  unless  the  desire  to  discon- 
tinue the  intimacy  be  mutual,  either  of  them  will 
find  it  difficult  to  break  off"  the  connection,  however 
alive  to  the  snares  and  dangers  which  attend  it. 
The  importance  of  this  consideration  is  great ;  for  a 
man's  steps  through  life  usually  depend  not  a  little 
upon  the  nature  of  his  early  friendships.  Nor  is  it 
from  children  only  that  danger  is  to  be  apprehended, 
but  also  from  visitors  of  a  more  advanced  age. 
Instead  of  strengthening  the  hands  of  the  parent, 
they  are  too  apt  to  flatter  and  humor  the  little  ones ; 
to  entertain  tliem  with  foolisli  stories ;  or  to  teach 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  105 

thdhi  to  be  impertinent,  and  to  take  improper  liber- 
ties. More  mischief  is  sometimes  done  in  this  way, 
in  a  few  days,  than  the  parent  can  undo  in  as  many 
weeks.  A  single  instance  of  bad  example  is  dan- 
gerous. How  destructive,  then,  must  be  its  frequent 
repetition ;  and  how  important  must  it  be  to  guard 
the  sacred  work  of  education  from  such  interrup- 
tions, and  to  make  great  sacrifices  to  effect  this 
object !  Parents  are  too  apt  to  make  their  own  taste 
and  convenience  the  great,  if  not  the  only,  rule  in 
the  selection  of  their  acquaintance.  Now,  ought 
not  the  safety  and  welfare  of  their  children  to  enter 
at  least  equally  into  their  consideration?  Here, 
probably,  is  the  most  vuhierable  point,  and  here 
ought  provident  caution  and  measures  of  defence  to 
be  most  carefully  employed.  Parents  frequently 
leave  their  home  and  their  circle  of  acquaintance 
for  a  considerable  time,  in  order  to  afford  to  their 
children  an  opportunity  of  acquiring  accomplish- 
ments. Shall  there  be  less  interference  with  old 
habits,  less  change  of  situation,  or  of  acquaintance, 
when  the  object  is  to  shield  them  from  the  allure- 
ments of  sin,  and  to  give  them  a  taste  for  the  paths 
of  true  religion  and  virtue  ?  Are  we  not  called  upon 
to  apply  the  spirit  of  the  precept,  to  cut  off  the 
-offending  right  hand  and  to  pluck  out  the  offending 
right  eye,  to  the  case  before  us,  and  resolutely, 
though  with  all  mildness  and  courtesy,  to  avoid  in 
our  social  intercourse  whatever  may  be  dangerous 
to  our  children  ?  It  is  true,  that  the  question  is  one 
of  comparison.  Some  risks  to  the  young  family 
must  be  incurred,  if  we  would  not  do  extreme  vio- 


166  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

lence  to  private  friendship,  to  the  ties  of  relationship, 
or  to  the  duties  of  hospitaUty.  But  those  who  feel 
the  importance  of  preserving  their  tender  charge 
from  the  contagion  of  evil,  will  allow  great  weight 
in  forming  a  decision  to  the  circumstances  which 
belong  to  that  side  of  the  question.  With  respect  to 
forming  new  connections,  there  is  seldom  much  diffi- 
culty ;  but  with  regard  to  old  associations,  we  shall 
often  be  called  to  introduce  changes  as  to  the  fre- 
quency and  duration  of  visits,  and  sometimes  as  to 
their  continuance ; — changes  which  may  appear  un- 
kind to  others,  and  will  be  extremely  unpleasant  to 
ourselves.  Let  it,  however,  be  our  earnest  prayer 
and  endeavor  to  do  all  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  af- 
fection ;  and  this  will  greatly  facilitate  our  object.  I 
remember  many  years  ago  being  struck  by  a  little 
incident  in  a  parish,  where  the  incumbent,  a  man 
of  most  extraordinary  Christian  benignity,  when  in 
company  with  a  clerical  friend,  rebuked  in  very 
plain  terms  one  of  his  parishioners  for  gross  misbe- 
haviour on  a  recent  occasion.  The  reproof  was  so 
severe  as  to  astonish  his  friend,  who  declared,  that 
if  he  had  addressed  one  of  his  own  flock  in  similar 
language,  he  should  have  expected  an  irreconcilea- 
ble  breach.  The  clergyman  of  the  parish  answered 
him,  with  a  gentle  pat  on  the  shoulder,  and  with  a 
smile  of  Christian  wisdom,  "  O,  my  friend,  when 
there  is  love  in  the  heart,  you  may  say  any  thing." 
And  in  like  manner,  I  believe,  when  there  is  true  and 
warm  love  in  our  hearts,  and  our  measures  are 
prompted  by  a  calm  and  sincere  sense  of  duty,  we 
may  do  almost  any  thing  without  giving  great  of- 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  1G7 

fence;  at  least,  without  giving  offence  deep  and 
lasting. 

After  what  has  been  said  respecting  servants,  little 
needs  to  be  added  to  guard  parents  against  suffering 
a  child  to  make  them  his  companions.  He  should 
always  treat  them  with  kindness,  but  should  be  led 
not  to  amuse  himself  with  their  society  in  his  play- 
hours.  This  remark  applies  with  particular  force  to 
the  men-servants,  who  will  generally  be  much  more 
dangerous  to  children  than  the  maids.  But,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  both  the  one  and  the  other,  if 
treated  by  the  children  as  favorites,  will  be  apt  to 
flatter  and  humor  them,  and  teach  them  to  be  guilty 
of  little  deceits,  and  to  be  fond  of  self-indulgence. 
Vulgarity  of  manners  and  of  language,  though  the 
most  obvious,  is  perhaps  the  least  of  the  evils  to  be 
apprehended  from  such  companions. 


A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 


CHAP.  IX. 

Hardihood. — Moderate  Habits. — Artificial  Hardships. — 
Moderation  favorable  to  Elevation  of  Character. — 
Rules. — Preparation  for  Prayer. — Self-Examination. 
— Prayer. — How  long  boys  should  be  kept  under  do- 
mestic Education. — Preparation  for  Schools. — Gover- 


In  a  system  such  as  I  have  recommended,  marked 
by  the  absence  of  harshness  and  violence  on  the 
part  of  the  parents  and  of  contests  and  collisions 
among  the  children,  there  may  appear  to  be  some 
danger  of  a  want  of  the  hardihood  requisite  in  the 
troubles  and  disappointments  that  will  be  met  with 
in  life.  But  though  the  circumstances  which  in 
general  tend  most  powerfully  to  promote  this  quality 
are  excluded  by  our  plan  of  education,  yet,  under 
the  guidance  of  a  parent  who  turns  his  attention  to 
this  point,  those  which  remain  will  be  sufficient  for 
the  attainment  of  our  object.  Even  in  the  best- 
regulated  families,  troubles  will  arise  among  the 
children.  The  loss  of  a  play-thing,  a  personal  acci- 
dent, a  lesson  ill  learned ;  above  all,  a  hope  disap- 
pointed ; — all  these,  and  numberless  other  circum- 
stances of  constant  recurrence,  will  checquer  their 
happiness,  and  accustom  them  to  difficulties  and 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  169 

trials,  which  it  will  be  the  parent's  endeavor  to  con- 
vert into  lessons  of  patient  endurance,  if  not  of 
cheerful  resignation. 

But  there  is  another  course,  perfectly  compatible 
with  that  just  mentioned,  of  high  importance  for 
arming  the  young  mind  against  the  difficulties  and 
troubles  of  life :  this  is,  to  accustom  children  to  mo- 
deration, and  to  teach  them  from  the  first  to  do  as 
much  as  may  be  for  themselves,  instead  of  depend- 
ing on  others  for  their  conveniences  and  comforts. 
Moderate  habits  have  been  celebrated  as  sources  of 
happiness  by  Mr.  Paley,  and  with  the  felicity  with 
which  he  handles  most  topics  unconnected  with  his 
erroneous  principle  (as  I  deem  it)  of  generous  expe- 
diency. It  is,  therefore,  perfectly  unnecessary  for 
me  to  enlarge  on  the  value  of  such  habits.*  It  is 
apparent,  how  contented  with  a  little  those  are  pre- 
pared to  be,  whose  habits  lead  them  to  look  for 
little ;  and  how  large  a  portion  of  the  trials  of  those 
who  are  used  to  flattery,  luxury,  and  self-indulgence, 
will  pass  over  their  heads.  The  want  of  delicate 
food  and  a  soft  bed  will  not  be  felt  by  a  child  who 
has  been  used  to  plain  fare  and  a  mattrass ;  and 
rising  early  in  the  winter  will  be  no  hardship  to  one 
who  has  been  always  accustomed  to  it.  The  habit 
also  of  shifting  for  themselves  (to  use  a  homely  but 
expressive  phrase)  will  not  only  stimulate  the  ac- 
tivity of  children,  and  call  forth  their  ingenuity,  and 
make  them  more  pleased  with  little  acquisitions,  as 
fruits  of  their  own  skill  and  exertions,  but  it  will 

*  Vide  Moral  Philosophy,  chapter  on  Human  Happiness. 


170  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

powerfully  tend  to  preserve  them  from  sources  of 
discontent.  There  is  no  bound  to  the  unreasonable 
wishes  of  those  who  are  taught  to  think  it  the  busi- 
ness of  others  to  obtain  for  them  what  they  wish. 
They  will  often  appear  to  wish  almost  solely  for  the 
sake  of  giving  trouble.  But  whether  they  really  do 
so  or  not,  the  unfortunate  person  who  is  expected  to 
satisfy  this  immeasurable  capacity  of  wishing,  will 
be  extremely  likely  to  be  of  that  opinion,  and  exe- 
cute the  unpleasant  task  with  no  little  dissatisfac- 
tion, if  not  with  ill-humor.  These  dispositions  will 
be  caught  by  the  children,  and  add  greatly  to  the 
discontent  excited  by  their  preposterous  and  unsatis- 
fied wants.  This,  I  conceive,  is  one  leading  cause 
of  the  unhappiness  of  the  children,  and  the  unfeeling 
conduct  of  the  female  attendants,  so  often  observa- 
ble when  children  of  rank  walk  out  in  the  parks  in 
London.  How  different  is  the  situation  of  children 
who  are  taught  to  depend  upon  themselves  as  much 
as  possible  for  their  comforts  and  pleasures !  Their 
wishes  will  be  moderate  and  reasonable ;  for  they 
will  be  bounded  by  their  sense  of  their  own  ability 
to  supply  them,  of  which  they  will  fonn  a  far  better 
estimate  than  of  the  ability  of  others.  What  they 
do  obtain  will  be  highly  grateful  to  them ;  and  when 
they  fail  to  obtain  any  thing,  they  will  impute  the 
failure  to  themselves;  and  this  circumstance  will 
serve  to  stifle  complaint,  or  afford  the  parent  an  op- 
portunity of  showing  its  absurdity.  The  propriety 
of  the  system  here  recommended  will  be  readily  ac- 
knowledged by  children.  They  will  easily  under- 
stand that  we  ought  to  interfere  as  little  as  may  be 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  171 

with  the  happiness  of  others  by  causing  them  trou- 
ble ;  and  that  indifference  to  the  ease  and  comfort  of 
those  about  us  argues  a  want  of  feeling  which  must 
be  hateful  to  our  kind  and  compassionate  Saviour. 

Natural  methods  of  promoting  moderation,  pa- 
tience, and  a  due  measure  of  hardihood,  will  be 
found  amply  sufficient,  without  having  recourse  to 
unnatural  and  artificial  austeries  and  sufferings. 
These  I  should  exceedingly  disapprove,  though  I 
fear  they  are  sometimes  found  in  the  plans  of  edu- 
cation adopted  by  good  parents.  Surely  they  aiT! 
calculated  to  sour  the  temper  of  the  child,  and  wea- 
ken filial  affection.  What  God  sends,  we  all  learn 
to  bear  more  cheerfully  than  what  is  wrought  upon 
us  (as  we  are  apt  to  think)  by  the  mere  will  of  man. 
Besides,  when  God  is  clearly  the  author  of  the  event, 
its  rigors  are  tempered  and  softened  in  various  ways. 
In  judgment  he  remembers  mercy.  But  when  it 
proceeds  more  from  man,  even  though  man  does 
nothing  without  the  Divine  permission,  it  bears 
marks  of  his  short-sightedness  and  violence.  Com- 
pare the  sufferings  inflicted  by  the  Inquisition,  with 
those  which  proceed  from  natural  distempers.  Well 
might  David,  when  allowed  a  choice  of  evils,  say, 
"  Let  me  fall  now  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  for  very 
great  are  his  mercies ;  but  let  me  not  fall  into  the 
hand  of  man." 

The  habits  which  have  been  mentioned,  besides 
preparing  children  to  meet  the  difficulties  and  bear 
tile  evils  of  life,  will  give  the  mind  a  certain  eleva- 
tion. Self-indulgence  leads  to  frivolity ;  enervates 
the  soul ;  pampers  the  lower,   and  chills  and  de- 


172  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

presses  the  Iiigher,  part  of  our  nature.  Our  blessed 
Saviour  said,  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let 
him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow 
me."  He  well  knew  how  incompatible  self-indul- 
gence is  with  the  recovery  of  divine  image  in  the 
soul.  How  can  liberality,  magnanimity,  cheerful 
contentment  under  evils,  and  moderation  and  spi- 
rituality of  mind  in  the  midst  of  unforeseen  pros- 
perity, be  expected  from  the  self-indulgent  man.-* 
His  aims  will  be  low,  his  conduct  marked  by  mean- 
ness ?  and  he  will  cling  to  this  earth,  the  only  source 
of  his  pleasures.  If  we  wish  this  picture  to  be  re- 
versed, we  must  omit  no  means  of  instilling,  by  the 
Divine  blessing,  an  opposite  spirit  into  our  offspring. 
Rules  are  necessary  in  every  young  family,  and, , 
perhaps,  for  no  purpose  more  particularly  than  for 
the  promotion  of  self-denial  and  moderation.  They 
should  be  simple  and  definite,  and  not  needlessly 
•numerous;  for  there  never  ought  to  be  room  for 
question,  when  one  is  broken,  whether  it  could  be 
easily  understood  and  remembered.  But  rules 
should  always  be  considered  as  so  connected  with 
the  principles  from  which  they  fiow,  that  they  must 
be  interpreted  rather  largely,  and  regarded  as  ex- 
tending to  every  thing  manifestly  of  the  same  kind 
with  that  which  is  expressed  by  their  letter.  All 
cunning  methods  of  evading  them,  and  all  special 
pleading  as  to  their  meaning  must  be  decidedly 
suppressed.  A  child  must  be  early  taught  to  look  to 
those  general  principles  and  motives,  which  are  the 
guides  of  the  advanced  Christian ;  and  by  no  means 
to  consider  every  thing  allowable  which  is  not  for- 


OK    CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  I  73 

bidden  by  a  specific  rule,  and  nothing  as  a  duty 
which  a  rule  does  not  prescribe.  In  laying  down 
rules,  the  parent  will  accommodate  them  to  age  and 
sex,  and  in  a  measure  also  to  individual  character. 
He  must  take  care  that  they  shall  not  only  be  rea- 
sonable, but  that,  if  it  be  possible,  they  shall  be  seen 
and  felt  to  be  so  by  those  who  are  to  obey  them.  It 
is  obvious,  therefore,  that  they  should  not  be  formed 
hastily,  and  much  less  when  a  fault  has  just  been 
committed  by  a  child,  and  the  mind  of  the  parent 
may  be  less  serene  than  is  usual.  When  estab- 
lished, they  should  not  be  lightly  changed.  But  it  is 
better  to  change  or  annul  a  rule,  than  to  wink  at 
the  breach  of  it ; — a  mode  of  proceeding  which  must 
produce  the  worst  effects  on  the  principles  and 
habits  of  the  child,  and  must  undermine  the  au- 
thority of  the  parent. 

My  readers  will  expect  that  I  should  say  some- 
thing on  the  subject  of  prayer ;  but,  important  as 
that  subject  is,  I  am  desirous  first  of  adverting  to  a 
subject  perhaps  still  more  important, — the  prepara- 
tion for  prayer.  I  imagine  that  coldness  of  heart 
and  wandering  of  thought  in  prayer  proceed  more 
from  a  want  of  due  preparation  than  from  any 
wrong  system  in  prayer  itself  If  this  is  the  case 
with  persons  of  mature  age,  it  is  likely  to  be  much 
more  so  with  children,  whose  minds  are  so  lively 
and  volatile,  and  whose  self-command  and  habits  of 
of  piety  are  so  weak  and  imperfect.  Consider  what 
it  is  to  make  a  child  pass  immediately  from  its  play 
to  its  prayers,  with  scarcely  the  interval  of  a  mo- 
ment to  quiet  its  mind,  and  with  no  endeavor  on  the 
a  2 


174  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

part  of  the  parent  to  bring  its  soul  into  a  frame  fit 
for  addressing  its  Almighty  Maker  and  Redeemer. 
And  yet  this  case,  I  fear,  or  one  very  like  to  it,  is  not 
uncommon.  Surely  this  practice  must  be  offensive 
to  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  lead  the  child 
to  look  on  prayer,  not  as  an  exercise  of  pious  affec- 
tions, but  as  little  more  than  the  decent  repetition  of 
a  good  form  of  words.  At  times,  when  the  mind  is 
in  a  more  favorable  state  for  prayer,  it  is  often 
scarcely,  if  at  all,  raised  to  God,  because  the  atten- 
tion has  not  been  called  to  the  nature  of  the  duty  to 
be  performed.  A  few  words  from  a  parent,  before 
the  child  falls  on  his  knees,  would  frequently  give, 
under  God's  blessing,  the  spirit  of  prayer  to  a  ser- 
vice which  may  appear  likely  otherwise  to  be  little 
better  than  a  mere  ceremony.  How  deserving,  then, 
is  this  point  of  a  parent's  attention !  Our  Liturgy 
sets  before  him  an  excellent  example,  in  the  address 
preceding  the  Confession ;  the  object  of  which  is  to 
prepare  the  congregation  for  the  service  which  fol- 
lows. 

But  another  most  important  preparation  for  prayer 
remains  to  be  mentioned.  This  is,  self-examination ; 
—an  exercise  of  the  soul  indispensable,  I  think,  to 
every  Christian,  and  requiring  to  be  begun  at  a  very 
early  period.  Of  course,  its  circumstances  must  de- 
pend on  the  age  of  the  child,  but  its  substance  ought 
by  no  means  to  be  omitted.  A  very  young  child 
(one  of  two  or  three  years  old)  cannot  be  expected 
to  examine  himself;  but  the  parent  must  remind 
him  of  one  or  two  faults,  or  one  or  two  victories  over 
pressing  temptation  on  very  recent  occasions,  and 


OF    (HIllSTIAN    EDITCATION.  175 

lead  him  to  right  feelings  respecting  them.  By  de- 
grees, if  this  call  to  recollection  is  regularly  prac- 
tised once  or  twice  a-day,  the  exercise,  though  ex- 
tremely  short  at  first,  will  become  a  little  longer,  and 
the  child's  feelings  will  be  drawn  into  the  habit,  first, 
of  being  more  easily  led  into  the  right  course,  and, 
^fter  a  while,  of  taking  it  of  their  own  accords 
Next,  the  child  will  begin  himself  to  recollect  what 
his  conduct  has  been  in  some  few  leading  points, 
and  that  with  less  and  less  help  from  the  parent : 
and  so  he  will  proceed,  till  at  length  he  will  extend 
his  view  to  more  joints,  and  require  no  assistance. 
In  all  the  stages  of  this  process,  great  caution  should 
be  employed  not  to  fatigue  or  harrass :  and  it  will 
l)e  better  to  advance  too  gradually  than  too  rapidly  : 
to  do  too  little,  rather  than  too  much.  It  is  also  ex- 
tremely important,  that  this  incipient  religious  exer- 
cise should  be  made  to  wear  as  gentle  and  amiable 
an  aspect  as  is  compatible  with  the  holy  dispositions 
which  should  accompany  it.  As  it  is  one  which, 
after  a  time,  the  child  is  to  carry  on  in  silence,  and 
solely  by  his  own  reflections,  if  he  becomes  at  all 
disgusted  with  it,  it  will  either  be  neglected  entirely 
or  performed  surperficially  and  without  advantage. 
Let  the  tenderness  and  patience,  no  less  than  the 
persevering  assiduity,  of  the  parent  be  in  any  tolera- 
ble degree  p)-oportioned  to  the  high  importance  of 
the  habit  which  he  wishes  to  see  established,  and 
there  is  the  fairest  prospect  of  success.  The  object 
should  be,  to  lead  the  child  to  think  over  the  princi- 
pal events  of  the  preceding  day ;  to  recollect  his 
faults  with  contrition,  and  his  blessings  with  thank- 


176  A  p 


RACTJCAI-    VIEW 


fulness :  and  then,  to  consider  a  little  the  day  which 
is  commencing,  and  with  a  disposition  to  behave 
well  through  it — to  avoid  past  faults,  and  to  be 
grateful  for  expected  mercies.  Every  care  should 
be  taken  to  infuse  cordiality  and  piety  into  this 
course ;  and  to  guard  it  against  every  shade  of  in- 
sincerity, by  turning  the  eye  of  the  child  from  the 
parent  to  God,  and  from  outward  appearance  to  the 
heart.  Every  thing  should  be  accommodated  to  the 
mind  and  habits  of  a  child,  and  made  to  wear  an 
easy  and  a  simple  dress.  Even  the  name  is  of  con- 
sequence :  and  if  the  long  term,  "  self-examination," 
can  be  made  to  give  way  to  one  more  intelligible, 
there  will  be  an  advantage  in  the  change.  The  time 
preferred  by  me  for  this  exercise  is  just  before  the 
morning  private  prayers  of  each  child.  Even  after 
the  child  is  able  to  examine  himself  without  assis- 
tance, the  watchful  eye  of  a  parent  will  be  wanted 
to  see  that  he  in  the  main  keeps  his  thoughts  rightly 
employed,  and  does  not  fall  into  a  habit  of  letting 
them  wander  to  things  of  a  different  nature  from 
those  which  ought  to  engage  the  mind.  A  parent 
may,  from  time  to  time,  inform  himself,  or  rather 
herself,  how  far  the  child  has  been  engaged  in  the 
appointed  duty,  by  asking  him  what  has  been  the 
subject  of  his  thoughts.  Here,  however,  great  deli- 
cacy is  requisite,  and  the  inquiry  must  be  sparingly 
repeated,  lest  it  should  lead  to  falsehood  and  hypo- 
crisy. If  the  thoughts  appear  to  wander,  the  exer- 
cise, though  always  very  short  at  the  age  under 
consideration,  must  generally  be  shortened,  and  a 
right  direction  must  be  given  to  it,  by  suggesting. 


OF    CHRISTIAN    EDUOATION.  177 

before  the  child  begins  to  think,  the  general  subjects 
<two  or  three  only)  on  which  they  should  be  em- 
ployed. When  there  happens  to  have  been  any 
thing  very  remarkable  in  the  child's  conduct,  it  is 
always  advisable  to  point  its  attention  to  the  fact  for 
two  or  three  succeeding  days. 

The  gi'eat  advantage  of  the  practice  which  I  am 
recommending,  not  only  as  a  preparation  for  prayer, 
but  on  other  accounts,  is  apparent.  As  a  prepara- 
tion for  prayer,  it  must  produce,  with  the  Divine 
blessing,  the  most  salutary  effect  in  spiritualizing 
the  mind,  and  turning  the  tlioughts  to  faults,  and 
wants,  and  weaknesses;  and  also  to  motives  for 
gratitude  and  praise.  In  other  respects,  it  must 
produce,  in  a  measure,  the  benefits  which  are  the 
fruits  of  holy  self-examination  in  adults.  It  must 
promote  self-knowledge,  watchfulness,  and  a  tender 
conscience.  Thus,  we  may  humbly  hope,  that  God 
will  render  it  an  important  barrier  against  the  in- 
roads of  evil,  and  a  guardian  of  all  that  is  good. 
On  what  vantage-ground  does  a  parent  stand,  when, 
on  observing  a  fault,  the  child  can  be  reminded  how 
much  at  variance  it  is  with  his  resolutions  and  his 
prayers,  after  recollecting,  in  a  former  self-examina/- 
4ion,  a  similar  fault;  and  what  pain  the  present 
transgression  will  cause  him  when  he  reflects  upon 
it  at  the  next  season  for  reviewing  the  incidents  of 
the  day,  and  saying  his  prayers !  Instances  of  good 
conduct  will  give  rise  also  to  very  useful  observa- 
tions resting  on  the  same  foundation.  Children  are 
so  volatile,  so  eager  in  their  pursuits,  so  forgetful  of 
^ood  lessons,  and  so  disinclined  to  self-denial,  that  it 


178  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

is  of  the  highest  importance  to  introduce  as  early  as 
possible  a  habit  of  religious  thought  and  recollec- 
tion at  stated  times.  Is  not,  then,  self-examination 
particularly  desirable  for  children;  and  ought  pa- 
rents to  think  any  pains  ill-bestowed  which  may 
promote  it  ?  And  I  fully  believe,  from  experience, 
that,  if  their  endeavors  are  well-directed  and  perse- 
vering, and,  above  all,  conducted  in  a  right  spirit, 
they  will  not  be  used  in  vain. 

The  prayers  for  young  children  should  be  very 
short,  and  extremely  simple.  As  soon  as  an  infant 
can  lisp,  its  mother  will  let  it  kneel  in  her  lap,  and 
repeat  after  her  a  very  few  words,  addressed  to  God, 
after  it  has  seen  its  little  brothers  and  sisters  at  their 
prayers.  It  will  like  to  follow  their  example.  By 
degrees  it  will  require  less  and  less  assistance  in  of- 
fering up  its  little  prayer,  and  that  prayer  will  be,  in 
a  very  small  degree,  extended.  The  mother's  lead- 
ing object  will  be,  to  initiate  her  tender  charge  in 
feelings  of  reverence  and  piety  while  so  employed. 
These  feelings  may  be  instilled,  while  the  ideas  con- 
veyed to  the  infant  by  the  words  it  pronounces  are 
yet  very  indistinct  and  imperfect ;  but  the  impression 
on  its  heart  will  be  the  blessed  work  of  its  Sanctifier, 
and  be  acceptable  to  its  God  and  Saviour.  After 
some  time,  recourse  may  be  had  to  more  regular 
forms  of  prayer.  Those  for  children,  by  Dr.  Watts, 
are  very  good,  and  different  prayers  are  furnished 
to  suit  different  ages.  It  is  highly  desirable  that  the 
child  should  pronounce  his  prayers  aloud,  in  the 
presence  of  a  parent,  whenever  that  mode  can  be 
made  convenient:    and,   at  other   times,    of  some 


OF    CHRISTIAN'    EDUCATION.  179 

proper  person;  and  attention  and  a  devout  spirit 
should  be  diligently  cultivated,  and  every  thing 
which  may  disturb  the  thoughts  should  be  carefully 
kept  at  a  distance.  The  state  of  the  mind,  when 
engaged  in  prayer,  will  chiefly  depend  on  its  general 
habits,  and  on  previous  preparation;  but  the  se- 
curing of  regularity,  external  decency,  and  pro- 
priety in  the  act  itself,  is  a  point  of  no  small  moment. 
Let  a  parent  reflect  on  the  infinite  importance  of 
communion  with  God  at  every  age,  and  the  incalcu- 
lable influence  which  right  impressions,  and  the  com- 
mencement of  right  habits  on  this  point,  from  the 
earliest  period  may  have  on  future  life,  and  he  will 
be  far  from  thinking  the  care  which  has  been  recom- 
mended greater  than  the  object  demands.  From 
what  evil  will  he  guard  his  little  ones,  if  not  from 
the  evil  of  trifling  with  their  God  ?  And  what  habit 
will  he  be  anxious  to  give  them,  if  not  the  habit  of 
humble  dependence  and  devout  adoration  in  ad- 
di'essing  that  Being  who  is  the  Author  of  all  their 
blessings,  and  in  whose  hands  is  their  future  lot  for 
all  eternity  ? 

I  cannot  close  my  remarks,  without  a  few  words 
as  to  the  length  of  time  during  which  it  is  desirable 
that  boys  should  continue  under  their  father's  roof. 
This  is  a  question  of  expediency ;  and  its  decision 
must  depend  much  on  circumstances.  The  health 
of  the  child,  the  health,  leisure,  and  ability  of  the 
parents,  and  various  other  considerations,  will  have 
their  weight  in  determining  it.  In  general,  however, 
I  am  disposed  to  think,  that  it  is  best  to  prolong 
domestic  education  until  a  boy  is  nine  or  ten  years 


180  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

old,  and  that  it  is  seldom  desirable  to  continue  it 
much  longer.  Till  that  period,  a  moderate  share  of 
knowledge  and  ability  will  enable  parents  to  educate 
their  son,  and  the  mother  will  be  likely  to  have  a 
due  ascendancy  over  him.  But  at  the  age  which  I 
have  mentioned,  in  order  to  keep  pace  with  other 
boys,  he  ought  to  begin  to  employ  a  large  propor- 
tion of  his  school-hours  in  studying  Latin ;  and  his 
father  will  seldom  have  leisure  to  superintend  that 
study  regularly  and  sufficiently ;  and,  what  is  more 
important,  his  mother  will  generally  find  that  he  has 
become  too  large  and  robust  to  be  easily  managed 
in  the  father's  absence,  and  that  the  welfare  of  the 
boy,  if  not  her  own  comfort,  requires  that  he  should 
be  placed  in  other  hands.  Scarcely  any  thing  can 
be  so  mischievous  to  a  boy,  as  to  be  master  of  an 
individual,  whom,  in  the  regular  course  of  his  edu- 
cation, he  is  bound  to  obey ;  but  the  evil  is  extremely 
aggravated  when  that  individual  is  a  parent.  When 
this  shameful  and  unnatural  scene  is  presented,  how 
totally  reversed  are  those  provisions  which  the  Di- 
vine Being  has  made  for  the  progress  of  children  in 
knowledge,  and  in  right  dispositions,  and  for  the 
usefulness  and  the  comfort  of  parents  !  We  know 
in  what  abomination  a  rebellious  son  was  held  under 
the  Jewish  law ;  and  certainly  he  is  not  less  offen- 
sive to  correct  judgment  and  right  feeling  under  the 
Christian  system. 

In  such  a  case,  the  parents  are  seldom  blameless, 
especially  if  it  occurs  when  the  boy  is  young.  The 
father  should  exert  himself  with  vigor  to  support  the 
mother's  authority ;  and  she  ought  to  consider  it  a 


OF    CHRISTIAN     EDUCATION.  181 

Christian  duty  to  support  iier  own,  and  avoid  tiiose 
weaknesses,  from  whatever  amiable  sources  they 
may  spring,  which  tend  to  undermine  it.  There  is 
a  silent  dignity  about  a  woman  who  does  not  yield 
to  them ;  and  a  son  uncorrupted  by  bad  companions 
can  seldom  resist  its  influence,  and  conduct  himself 
towards  such  a  mother  with  disrespect. 

In  families  where  a  considerable  share  of  the 
school  business  devolves  on  a  governess,  it  is  unfit 
that,  when  a  boy  is  above  her  management,  he 
should  continue  to  be  her  scholar ;  and,  if  a  better 
arrangement  cannot  be  made  for  his  education,  he 
must  go  to  school. 

Little  needs  be  said  on  the  advantage  of  keeping  a 
boy  at  home,  while  he  can  be  duly  educated  and 
properly  managed.  This  course  is  highly  desirable 
for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  his  principles,  and 
forming  his  habits.  I  have  already  said  something 
on  the  high  importance  of  laying  a  sound  and  broad 
foundation  in  these  great  points,  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  domestic  education.  A  parent  who  feels 
on  this  subject  as  he  ought  will  be  anxious  to  obtain 
as  many  of  the  first  years  of  life  as  may  be  for  the 
perfecting,  establishing,  strengthening,  settling  that 
foundation.  He  will  bear  in  mind  the  original  indis- 
position of  man  to  holiness,  his  levity, — his  lively 
impressions  from  present  objects,  his  neglect  of  fu- 
ture consequences,  and  his  dislike  of  a  persevering 
opposition  to  the  natural  bent  of  his  own  feelings. 
He  will  also  bear  in  mind  the  force  of  the  tempta- 
tions which  abound  in  that  world  (and  every  school 
is  a  branch  of  it)  into  which  his  son  must  soon  be 


A    PRACTIfAT,    VIEW 


sent ;  and  he  will  be  far  more  inclined  to  regret  that 
the  period  most  favorable  for  paternal  instruction  is 
necessarily  so  limited,  than  he  will  be  disposed  to 
abridge  it. 

Towards  the  close  of  that  period,  a  boy  must  be 
prepared  for  the  new  course  of  things  which  awaits 
him  at  school,  and  be  cautioned  in  a  more  particular 
manner  against  some  of  its  leading  temptations.  It 
would  be  necessary  to  enter  into  details  on  these 
points,  if  the  next  period  in  education,  that  which  is 
passed  by  boys  at  school,  were  under  consideration. 
Suffice  it  here  to  say,  that  in  his  lessons  he  must  be 
taught  to  look  for  less  assistance,  and  to  accommo- 
date himself  to  his  task,  rather  than  expect  it  to  be 
accommodated  to  him.  He  must  also  learn  to  sub- 
mit to  general  rules,  even  when  they  bear  hard  upon 
him ;  and  to  expect  very  few  exceptions  in  his  favor. 
Kindness  to  those  who  are  less  than  himself,  and 
patience  and  good  humor  under  provocations  and 
ill-treatment,  must  be  earnestly  inculcated.  But, 
above  all,  he  must  be  warned  against  falsehood  and 
deceit,  those  flagrant  vices  of  schools ;  and  increased 
diligence  nmst  be  used  to  strengtlien  him  against 
temptations  of  every  kind.  At  the  same  time,  the 
bonds  of  filial  affection  and  filial  confidence  must  be 
strengthened,  if  it  be  possible,  as  barriers  against 
evil,  or  as  conductors,  under  God,  to  the  right  path 
again,  when  he  has  strayed  from  it. 

No  distinction  has  been  made  in  the  foregoing  re- 
marks between  the  education  of  boys  and  that  of 
girls.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  period  under 
consideration,  the  modes  pursued  with  the  different 


OK    (HIllfSTIAiN    EDIK  ATION. 


I8S 


sexes  should  be,  I  think,  very  similar.  In  the  last 
year  or  two,  the  boys  and  the  girls  will  begin  to 
separate  both  in  their  studies  and  in  their  amuse- 
ments. It  is  not  necessary  to  be  more  particular  on 
this  subject.  In  all  that  regards  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant part  of  education,  the  training  of  them,  by 
God's  help,  for  Himself  and  a  blessed  eternity,  the 
system  will  be  the  same  for  both. 

In  many,  and  especially  in  large  families,  educa- 
cation  cannot  be  properly  conducted  without  a  go- 
verness. In  the  choice  of  one,  good  principles,  good 
sense,  good  temper,  sobriety  and  firmness  of  mind, 
and  competent  knowledge,  are  the  first  requisites ; 
ornamental  qualifications  hold  a  second  place.  Un- 
fortunately, the  generality  of  young  women,  who 
offer  themselves  for  that  situation,  are  much  better 
furnished  with  showy  accomplishments  than  with 
more  solid  acquirements;  and,  for  this  and  other 
reasons,  parents  must  not  raise  their  expectations 
high  when  they  take  a  governess.  Much,  however, 
of  the  disappointment  which  they  too  often  expe- 
rience on  that  occasion,  may  be  owing  to  them- 
selves. If  they  do  not  make  fair  and  charitable 
allowances  for  her  defects,  and  conduct  themselves 
towards  her  in  a  manner  respectful,  kind,  and 
friendly,  and  thus  entitle  themselves  to  her  regard 
and  confidence ;  and  if  they  do  not  make  a  right 
use  of  their  influence,  by  leading  her  gently  and 
gradually  into  such  methods  of  education  as  they 
approve ;  they  must  not  wonder  if  they  find  great 
evils  in  the  schoolTroom.  How  can  they  expect  a 
very  important  and  delicate  trust  to  be  well  exe- 


184  A    PRACTICAL    VIEW 

cuted,  when  they  do  not  show  proper  attentions  to 
their  agent,  nor  put  her  into  the  way  of  adopting 
the  course  which  will  meet  their  wishes  ?  How  can 
they  hope  that  she,  a  stranger,  will  proceed  with 
fidelity,  tenderness,  and  zeal,  in  spite  of  the  difficul- 
ties which  she  will  experience  among  her  pupils, 
when  they,  the  parents,  do  not  exert  themselves  to 
lessen  those  difficulties,  and  to  smooth  her  course? 
How  can  they  hope,  that  their  children  will  find  in 
her  a  portion  of  parental  affection  and  solicitude, 
when  she  has  found  in  themselves  little  support  and 
friendship,  though  standing  in  so  much  need  of 
them?  Let  parents  take  a  different  course,  and 
they  may  see  a  very  different  result.  They  may 
then  find  how  active  are  the  exertions  of  affection, 
how  large  the  returns  made  by  gratitude,  and  how 
great  is  the  docility  and  how  warm  the  sympathy  of 
a  young  woman,  thrown  on  their  care,  and  beyond 
her  hopes,  finding  in  them,  as  it  were,  second  pa- 
rents.— However,  I  would  caution  those  who  employ 
a  governess,  in  the  midst  of  their  kindness  to  re- 
member what  place  she  holds  in  their  family,  and  to 
what  situation  in  life  she  must  return  when  she 
leaves  it.  They  are  bound  to  avoid  any  line  of  con- 
duct which  may  place  her  above  her  station.  To 
act  otherwise  would  be  disqualifying  her  for  the 
duties  of  the  school-room,  and  doing  her  a  serious 
injury.  They  ought  to  consider  eminently  good 
conduct  on  her  part  as  laying  them  under  an  obli- 
gation never  to  be  forgotten. 


APPENDIX. 


No.  I. 


(extracted  from    the    christian   observer    for    JANUARY, 

1813] 


We  are  the  parents  of  several  young  children,  and  are  anxious 
for  their  salvation.     Not  long  since,  one  of  our  httle  boys  went  to 
visit  a  very  kind  friend,  who  has  been  remarkably  successful  in 
the  pious  education  of  his  family.     We  were  desirous  to  have  our 
friend's  opinion  of  our  son.     His  leading  observation  was,  that 
Jhe  child  did  not  show  a  cordial  concern  for  his  faults.     Feeling 
the  justice  of  this  sentiment,  and  our  own  inexperience,  we  re- 
quested him  to  tell  us  at  length  how,  under  God's  grace,  this  con- 
cern might  be  best  excited ;  which  drew  from  him  the  first  of  the 
following  letters.     We  still  expressed  doubts   on  the  subject  of 
correction  by  the  rod,  whether  it  should  ever  be  used  at  all,  or 
whether  it  should  ever  be  used  where  some  contrition  has  been 
already  produced  by  affectionate  and  serious  conversation.     This 
procured  us  the  benefit  of  the  second  letter.     Having  found  these 
letters  of  considerable  use  in  the  religious  education  of  our  chil- 
dren, and  having  obtained   permission  fro/n  our  truly  Christian 
friend  lo  make  them  public,  we  beg  to  send  them  to  you,  in  the 
hope  that  you  will  judge   them  well  worthy  of  insertion  in  the 
Christian  Observer. 

R  2 


186  APPENDIX. 

"  My  dear  Sir, 

"  The  subject  on  which  you  request  my  sentiments  is 
one  of  the  most  important  in  education.  Without  a  cordial  con- 
cern for  a  fault,  no  sound  foundation  is  laid  for  its  cure.  Even  if 
the  parent  looked  no  farther  than  to  worldly  principles,  to  mere 
prudence  and  fair  character,  this  would  be  true.  It  is  eminently 
and  obviously  true,  when  the  reference  is  to  religion,  and  to  God 
who  searches  the  heart.  Without  this  cordial  concern  there  can 
be  no  repentance,  and  without  repentance  there  can  be  neither 
forgiveness  nor  the  Divine  blessing ;  and  therefore  all  must  be 
unsound,  even  if  outward  reformation  be  obtained.  I  ought  to 
apologize  for  repeating  truths  so  familiar  to  you,  as  applied  to 
adults,  if  not  also  as  applied  to  children,  to  whom  they  are  equally 
applicable.  It  is  their  very  high  and  fundamental  importance, 
and  their  not  meeting  with  due  attention  in  education,  even  from 
very  many  religious  parents,  which  induces  me  to  state  them.  I 
too  frequently  see  parents  make  the  reformation  of  their  children's 
faults  a  matter  in  which  religion  is  scarcely,  if  at  all,  referred  to  ; 
and  little  or  no  appeal  is  directed  to  the  heart  and  conscience. 
Thus  morality  comes  to  be  considered  as  consisting  entirely  (or 
nearly  so)  in  mere  outward  observances  :  God,  Christ,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  are  little  brought  into  view  in  the  course  of  the 
child's  daily  conduct ;  and  he  gets  into  the  habit  of  being  satis- 
fied with  himself,  if  he  does  nothing  contrary  to  rule,  though  his 
motives  may  not  have  been  holy,  and  his  heart  may  have  been  in 
a  very  indifferent  state.  You  could  describe  to  me,  better  than  I  to 
you,  the  evils  of  such  a  state,  and  the  hardness  of  conscience,  and 
other  future  miseries  threatened  by  it. 

"  The  system  here  has  been,  carefully  to  counteract  these 
evils,  both  present  and  future,  by  doing  our  best  to  lead  om-  chil- 
dren to  have  God  in  all  their  thoughts,  and  to  habitual  daily 
repentance  and  tenderness  of  conscience  before  him ; — in  short, 
to  that  frame  of  mind,  making  proper  allowance  for  their  age, 
which  is  required  in  all  of  us  by  our  Heavenly  Father.  To  this 
end  we  always  endeavor,  in  correcting  a  fault  in  a  child,  to  have 
a  right  religious  view  of  it,  and  to  give  the  child,  partly  by  pre 
et'pt  and  iHustralion,  and  partly  by  sympathy  (for  '  si  vis  me  flere 


87 


(lolenduni  est  primum  ipsi  fibi,'*  is  eminently  applicable  in  this 
case,)  a  right  feeling  respecting  it,  as  an  offence  against  his  Maker, 
Redeemer,  and  Sanctifier.  It  is  too  common,  as  you  know,  to  cut 
short  the  notice  of  a  fault.  It  is  strongly  blamed — perhaps  the 
child  imdergoes  some  punishment — perhaps  he  is  threatened  with 
severe  punishment  if  he  repeats  the  fault ;  or  perhaps  he  is  re- 
quired to  say,  that  he  is  sorry,  and  will  not  repeat  it.  The  parent 
is  peremptory,  the  child  is  frightened,  and  all  is  over  in  a  very 
short  time,  without  any  useful  impression  on  the  child,  except 
that  he  is  less  disposed  to  commit  the  outward  act  which  has 

drawn  upon  him  these  animadversions.     Mrs. and  I,  on 

the  contrary,  endeavor  to  make  every  fault  of  our  children  to  be 
felt  by  them  as  an  offence  against  God,  and  a  sin  to  be  repented 
of,  and  upon  repentance  to  be  pardoned  through  our  Saviour.  We 
therefore  carefully  guard  against  the  child's  thinking  that  his  fault 
is  reproved  as  a  personal  offence  against  ourselves.  We  talk  to 
him  solemnly,  but  tenderly  ;  feeling  and  expressing  much  concern 
that  he  has  offended  God  ;  contrasting  his  conduct  with  the  love 
of  God  ;  painting  the  pleasure  with  which  his  holiness  would  be 
received  in  heaven,  particularly  by  Christ,  and  the  pain  which 
his  sin  has  occasioned.  In  short,  we  talk  with  him,  mutatis  mu- 
tandis,f  as  with  a  friend  with  whom  we  tenderly  sympathise, 
while  we  feel  that  we  have  a  right  to  command.  We  temper  the 
terrors  of  the  Lord  with  representations  of  his  love  and  mercy ; 
and  we  persevere  in  this  course,  till  the  child's  mind  appears 
humble  and  softened,  and  brought  into  such  a  penitent  frame  as 
God  looks  upon  with  favor.  The  whole  often  ends  in  a  short 
affectionate  prayer  of  half  a  minute,  or  a  minute,  for  pardon  and 
grace,  dictated  by  ourselves,  as  far  as  the  child's  own  thoughts 
w  ill  not  of  themselves  supply  it.  This  process  is  never  hurried 
over,  nor  is  it  ever  brought  to  a  conclusion  before  the  end  appears 
to  be  attained  ;  as  nothing  can  be  more  important,  so  nothing  is 
suffered  to  supersede  or  interrupt  it.  It  is  talven  up  very  early, 
and  is  always  accommodated  in  its  different  parts  to  the  years 
and  Imowledge  of  the  child.     It  appears  formidable  on  paper ; 

*  If  you  wish  me  to  be  affected,  you  must  first  he  alFectcd  yourself. 
t  Varying  where  variation  is  necessary. 


188 


but  it  is  surprising  how  shorl,  and  even  pleasant  it  is,  in  all  com- 
mon cases,  through  its  being  commenced  so  early  and  habitually 
practised.  It  has  almost  banished  punishment  from  our  house, 
and  has  brought  with  it  various  other  good  consequences.  I  need 
not  say,  that  considerable  discrimination  and  discretion  must  be 
exercised  by  the  parent.  Religion  must  be  nxide  to  wear  an 
amiable  and  eudearmg,  as  well  as  an  awful,  countenance.  The 
bruised  reed  must  not  be  broken  ;  the  feelings  must  not  be  excited 
beyond  what  nature  will  bear  ;  and  if  a  storm  of  feeling  arises,  it 
must  be  allayed  without  any  improper  indulgence,  destructive  of 
the  effect  to  be  produced.  You  will  see,  that  sagacity  and  self- 
command  are  wanted  on  the  part  of  the  parent,  for  which  he 
cannot  hope,  if  he  do  not  maintain  an  unruffled  mind. 

"  There  are  some  necessary  concomitants  of  this  system,  which, 
were  they  not  so,  would  be  recommended  by  their  own  intrinsic 
importance.  Holy  things  must  always  be  approached  in  a  holy 
way.  The  Bible  must  never  be  read  with  levity  or  indifference. 
Hymns,  and  the  Catechism,  must  never  be  jabbered  over,  n  r  re- 
peated with  that  hard  tone  and  manner  which  bespeaks  an  un- 
consciousness of  their  sacred  nature.  Religion  must  practically 
be  made  the  main-spring  of  life ;  and  she  must  not  only  be  so, 
but  appear  to  be  so,  without  departing  from  her  native  modesty, 
and  without  losing  dignity  by  the  frequency  of  her  introduction, 
or  by  the  kindness  with  which  she  is  invested.  You  will  be 
aware  that  difficulties,  and  very  great  ones,  must  be  encountered, 
where,  instead  of  habits  of  proper  feeling  and  repentance  on  com- 
mitting faults  having  been  formed  from  infancy,  other  habits  have 
been  formed.  These  difficulties  are  in  their  kind  the  same  which 
you  clergymen  experience  in  bringing  adults  to  repentance.  In 
their  degree  they  will  be  greater  or  less  according  to  circum- 
stances.— I  had  a  child  here  for  several  months,  some  time  ago, 
whom  I  could  never  bring  to  quite  a  satisfactory  state  of  mind  on 
his  committing  faults  ;  owing,  as  I  believe,  to  the  errors  of  his 
previous  education.  With  our  own  children  we  have  never  ex- 
perienced very 'formidable  difficulties,  God  be  praised  !  His  is 
the  work ;  but  he  makes  great  use  of  the  instrumentality  of 
parents,  and  gives,  as  I  believe,  an  especial  blessing  to  a  well- 
directed  early  education. 

"  I  remain,  &c." 


1H9 


"  My  dear  Sir, 

"As  ours  is  quite  u  Sunday  subject,  I  will  employ  a 
little  of  to-day  in  'jiving  you  my  thoughts  upon  it. 

"  With  re  pect  to  punishments,  our  practice  has  been  very  gener- 
ally to  omit  the  employment  of  them  altogether,  when  the  child  was 
brought  to  real  repentance ;  but  at  any  rate  to  confine  their  use 
on  such  occasions  to  strong  cases,  and  then  to  employ  restraints, 
and  not  corporal  correction.  But  we  have  endeavored  to  recal 
the  child's  mind  to  faults,  from  time  to  time,  in  a  solemn  but  ten- 
der manner,  that  they  might  not  slip  out  of  his  remembrance  ; 
and  especially  at  prayer-time,  and  other  seasons  when  it  appeared 
likely  to  be  done  with  most  effect. 

"  We  have  been  led  to  this  course,  partly  l)y  feeling  ;  but  it  has 
accorded  with  our  principles,  as  I  will  endeavor  to  explain. 

"  The  great  and  leading  use  of  punishments  (in  the  case  of 
children  at  least)  seems  to  be,  to  humble  the  mind  at  the  time  of 
a  fault,  and  prepare  it  for  repentance  ;  or,  when  inflicted  after  a 
fault,  to  impress  the  fault  more  on  the  memory,  that  repentance 
for  it  may  be  more  abiding  :  and,  in  both  cases,  to  deter  from  a 
repetition  of  the  crime,  through  fear  of  a  repetition  of  the  suffer- 
ing. Now  though  it  has  these  uses,  it  has  also  evils  attending  it. 
The  parent's  temper  is  apt  to  be  ruffled  in  inflicting  it,  and  the 
child's  to  be  soured  and  hardened  in  receiving  it ;  and  the  fear  of 
it  is  apt  to  lead  to  concealment  and  deceit  in  a  child,  and  also  apt 
to  turn  his  eyes  too  much  from  God  to  man,  and  from  the  spiritual 
to  the  temporal  corisequences  of  crimes.  '  Perfect  love  casteth 
out  fear ;'  and  one  would  wish  to  lead  a  child  towards  that  state 
as  fast  as  may  be,  and  to  foster  and  cherish  the  love  of  Christ,  as 
the  great  constraining  principle  in  his  bosom.  Endeavors  to  this 
end  will  be  not  a  little  counteracted  by  a  system  which  draws  his 
mind  habitually,  on  the  commission  of  faults,  to  human  punish- 
ments. 

"  Viewing  things  in  this  light,  we  look  on  punishment  as  never 
to  be  employed  in  Christian  education,  when  it  can  be  avoided  ; 
and  we  think  we  have  found,  that,  under  the  system  I  described 
in  my  last  letter,  for  promoting  iruo  repentance  in  a  child,  it  may 
be  avoided  with  advantage  in  almost  all  cases,  when,  under  that 


iOO 


system,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  the  mind  is  become  ingenuous 
and  the  consdience  tender.  In  cases  of  obstinacy,  whether  it 
takes  the  form  of  violence  or  suUenness — if  candor  and  kindness, 
and  solemn  but  calm  representations,  and  a  countenance  and 
manner  in  the  parent  the  very  reverse  of  that  of  the  child,  will 
not  in  some  moderate  time  produce  the  desired  effect  on  the  child's 
mind  (which  they  commonly  will,  after  the  system  in  question  has 
been  followed  for  some  time  in  a  family) — punishment  must  be 
employed  :  '  Debellare  auperbos.'*  But  even  in  this  case  it 
should  be  sparing  and  moderate,  and  inflicted  gradually,  so  as  to 
give  time  to  the  child  to  recover  itself  from  its  fit  of  perverseness ; 
and  when  its  temper  is  altered,  and  bends  to  the  yoke,  and  gives 
place  to  contrition  and  docility,  the  punishment  should  cease.  It 
is  to  the  full  as  necessary,  in  a  system  under  a  God  of  love,  the 
leading  principles  of  which  therefore  should  be  love  and  mercy, 
to  bear  in  mind  the  former  part  of  the  poet's  line,  '  Parcere  sub- 
jectis,'t  as  the  latter  part  which  I  before  quoted.  Then  is  the 
time  for  winning  the  child,  by  holy  kindness,  tempered  by  that 
mild  solemnity  which  the  occasion  will  inspire,  to  openness  and 
candor,  and  a  deep,  but  not  an  agonizing,  impression  of  the  evil 
of  sin,  and  of  the  love  of  Christ  and  his  readiness  to  forgive. 
Consider  how  very  ill  a  continuation  of  punishment  would  har- 
monise with  the  promotion  of  those  filial  aspirations  to  God  and 
the  Redeemer.  How  would  it  operate  in  our  own  case  ?  And 
how  much  more  likely  would  it  be  to  operate  ill  in  that  of  a  child, 
who,  from  his  tender  years,  is  so  much  more  liable  to  have  his 
mind  and  feelings  engrossed  by  any  thing  which,  like  punishment, 
makes  a  strong  impression  on  his  outward  senses  ? 

"  I  have  mentioned  the  effect  which  the  expectation  of  punish- 
ment is  likely  to  have  on  a  child's  communications  with  his 
parent.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  enlarge  a  little  on  that  point.  I 
am  sure  we  agree  in  placing  the  highest  value  on  an  affectionate 
and  confidential  openness  in  children  towards  their  parents.  It  is 
not  only  highly  gratifying  to  the  parents,  and  the  natural  ex- 
pression, and  pledge,  and  nurse  of  filial  esteem  and  love  ;  but  it 

*  To  humble  th«  proud.  t  I'o  spare  the  submissive 


191 


IS  most  closely  allied  to  the  promotion  of  all  that  is  honest  and 
ingenuous  in  the  child,  and  with  the  checking  and  subduing  of  all 
that  is  wrong,  not  only  in  his  habits,  but  in  his  disposition.  I 
need  not  go  into  detail  on  these  points.  All  that  I  could  say  will 
present  itself  to  your  mind  and  feelings.  I  will  merely  draw  your 
attention  to  two  opposite  pictures,  wliich  your  own  imagination 
will  present  to  you  in  sufficiently  vivid  colors  :  the  one,  of  a 
child  who  feels  his  parents  to  be  his  bosom  friends — his  wise  but 
tender  and  sympathising  guides  through  the  snares  and  delusions 
of  life ;  who,  from  feeling,  as  well  as  from  a  sense  of  duty,  flies 
to  them  to  disburthen  his  mind,  both  in  his  joy  and  in  his  sorrow  ; 
who,  in  his  intercourse  with  them,  endeavors  to  follow  in  that 
Christian  path  in  which  they  lead  the  way,  to  be  of  one  heart  and 
mind  with  them — and  to  '  keep  the  vmity  of  the  spirit  in  the 
bond  of  peace,'  as  with  all  his  fellow-Christians,  so  emphatically 
with  his  first,  best,  and  dearest  friends,  his  parents.  Contrast  this 
sketch  with  what  is  too  often  the  scene  even  in  religious  families  ; 
— distrust  on  the  part  of  the  parent ;  reserve,  and  perhaps  aliena- 
tion, on  the  part  of  the  child,  who,  instead  of  sympathising  (in 
the  large  sense  of  the  wordi  with  his  parents,  hankers  after  com- 
panions of  a  very  different  sort,  and  enjoys  himself  most  when 
farthest  from  parental  observation.  I  have  drawn  these  outlines 
strongly ;  but  I  am  sure  you  must  have  observed  different  shades 
of  these  characters  among  your  neighbors,  as  you  have  passed 
through  life. 

"To  return  to  the  main  subject,  from  which  I  have  rather  di- 
verged : — Afler  having  described  the  course  I  should  take  in  a 
case  of  obstinacy  or  passion  at  first,  and  repentance  afterwards, 
you  are  prepared  to  hear,  that,  in  a  case  which  began  with  candor 
and  repentance,  I  would  by  no  means  punish,  except  in  the  way 
of  some  restriction,  which  should  be  recommended  rather  by 
prudence  as  a  precaution,  than  be  of  the  nature  of  a  punishment ; 
or  perhaps,  by  exacting  some  moderate  sacrifice  (such  as  slaying 
in  the  house  for  some  hours)  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the 
mind's  too  soon  exchanging  salutary  impressions  for  youthful 
levity.  But  whatever  I  might  do  in  this  way,  I  would  take  es- 
pecial care  to  avoid  every  thing  austere  and  forbidding  in  my 


192 


APPENDIX. 


countenance  and  manner,  though  these  would  necessarily  be 
marked  by  serious  but  tender  and  affectionate  pity  and  concern.  I 
think  I  find  that  this  coxirse  of  proceeding  answers  the  purpose  of 
preventing  the  affair  from  sliding  too  soon  out  of  a  child's  mind, 
while  it  secures  his  affection,  disposes  him  to  confide  in  me  as  a 
friend  and  confidant,  and  adds,  to  his  fear  of  having  offended 
God,  a  farther  uneasiness,  from  having  brought  much  trouble 
upon  me  and  himself  Though  I  have  spoken  of  myself,  I  have 
my  wife  full  as  much  in  my  eye  while  I  give  this  description. 
Occasions  are  often  occurring,  in  which  the  little  children  come 
to  her  with  full  hearts  to  tell  her  of  some  misbehaviour  or  wrong 
temper.  They  come  without  fear,  but  with  a  load  of  concern  and 
regret,  which  they  evidently  hope  to  lighten  by  obtaining  her 
sympathy  and  condolence.  You  may  be  sure  she  always  en- 
courages this  course  of  proceeding ;  and  I  am  convinced  that 
under  God's  blessing,  it  answers  the  very  best  purposes.  I  need  - 
not  say,  that,  in  the  way  in  which  she  treats  such  cases,  it  is  her 
aim  always  to  give  the  feelings  of  the  Christian  a  complete  ascen- 
dancy over  those  of  the  mother;  and  I  think  she  succeeds  well. 
But,  after  all,  will  children  dread  the  commission  of  faults,  and 
guard  against  them,  unless  they  stand  in  awe  of  some  immediate 
punishment  ?  I  think  they  will,  and  on  the  same  ground  on  which 
men  and  women  do,  provided  our  whole  system,  or  some  other 
founded  on  similar  principles,  is  adopted  early,  and  steadily  pur- 
sued. It  is  thought  absurd  for  adults  to  subjec  t  themselves  to 
penances  for  their  sins  ;  and  why  should  it  not  be  right  to  subject 
children  to  as  little  of  this  sort  as  may  be,  and  to  endeavor  as 
early  as  may  be  to  bring  them  to  a  system  analogous  to  that  which 
we  Protestants  think  the  right  one  for  grown-up  people  ?  Their 
minds  are  capable  of  being  wrought  upon  by  the  same  means 
which  God  has  appointed  for  men  in  general ;  and  these  means 
cannot  be  too  early  employed,  and  cannot  too  soon  acquire  that 
preponderance  in  a  system  of  education,  which  may  make  them 
supersede  the  use  of  the  rod  ;  a  weapon  necessary,  in  a  degree, 
for  managing  brute  animals,  and  man  also,  as  far  as  his  nature 
resembles  theirs  ;  but  it  is  the  great  business  of  Christian  educa- 
tion to  exalt  his  nature — to  cherish  that  new  nature  implanted  by 


APPENDIX.  193 

grace  in  his  soul,  and  as  speedily  as  possible  lo  subject  him  to  a 
discipline  suited  to  the  state  of  heart  we  wish  to  encourage. 

"  Do  not  suppose,  though  we  endeavor  to  banish  punishment  as 
much  as  may  be,  that  our  system  is  one  of  indulgence.  It  is  a 
mahi  part  of  it  to  establish  habits  of  resolute,  though  cheerful, 
self-denial  in  all  points  in  which  duty  calls  for  sacrifices.  We 
always  hold  up  the  principle  of  acting  on  groimds  of  right  and 
wrong,  and  not  on  tho.se  of  inclination,  except  in  points  purely  in- 
different, which  are  brought  within  a  narrow  compass.  Nothing 
is  ever  granted  to  mere  entreaty  ;  and  we  have  nono  of  that  beg- 
ging and  whining  which  shows  generally  a  laxity  of  principle, 
and  always  a  defective  system  of  education,  wherever  it  is  prac- 
tised. 

"  In  this  way  we  endeavor  to  promote,  in  our  owti  children  that 
'  hardness '  which  all  the  soldiers  of  Christ  must  learn  to  endure. 
But,  then,  this  plan  is  sweetened  by  as  much  affection,  affability, 
cheerfulness,  and  desire  to  make  our  children  happy  within  the 
bounds  of  duty,  as  we  can  pour  into  it,  consistently  with  the 
great  truth,  which  is  often  inculcated,  that  neither  man  nor  child 
must  live  for  pleasure,  but  that  his  object  and  employment  must 
be  work — the  work  which  God  has  given  him  to  do  ;  and  a  con- 
siderable part  of  which  (especially  in  the  case  of  a  child)  is  to 
prepare  for  doing  better  work  in  future  years. 

"  As  to  the  passages  of  Scripture  which  you  mention,  I  own 
they  do  not  alter  my  view  of  this  case.  It  is  most  true,  that  '  the 
rod  must  not  be  spared '  in  the  cases  in  which  it  ought  to  be  used  ; 
but  then  comes  the  question  I  have  been  discussing  in  this  letter  : 
What  are  those  cases  ?  Indeed,  the  frequency  and  general  com- 
plexion of  the  passages  to  which  you  refer  would  lead  one  to  sup- 
pose, that  Solomon  conceived  that  cases  of  this  kind  would  be 
very  common  :  and,  in  short,  that  corporal  punishment  would  be 
a  leading  feature  in  a  right  education.  But  it  is  to  be  remembered 
imder  what  dispensation  he  lived — under  one  which  was  compa- 
ratively low — one  in  which  there  was  much  of  beggarly  element ; 
much  that  was  pemiitted  because  of  the  hardness  of  the  hearts  of 
those  who  lived  under  it.  Should  we  not  expect,  that  under  such  a 
dispensation,  and  for  the  use  of  such  a  people  as  the  Jews,  many 
s 


194  APPENDIX. 

things  would  be  enjoined  not  well  accommodated  to  our  times  ; 
and,  in  particular,  that  the  approved  system  of  education  would 
partake  less  of  what  is  (in  a  spiritual  sense)  refined  and  elevated, 
than  ought  to  enter  into  "  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord," 
under  the  blaze  of  the  Gk)spel  light  most  graciously  voucksafed 
to  us  ?  This  general  view  might  be  illustrated  and  corroborated 
by  many  things  in  the  New  Testament. 

"  May  God  bless  us  in  all  we  do  for  our  children  !  The  con- 
cluding lines  of  Cowper's  Task  may  well  be  applied,  in  their 
spirit,  to  this  subject  of  education. 

"  But  all  is  in  His  hand  whose  praise  1  seek, 
In  vain  t]ie  poet  sings,  and  the  world  hears, 
If  He  regard  not,  though  divine  the  theme. 
'Tis  not  in  artful  measures,  in  the  chime 
And  idle  tinkling  of  a  minstrel's  lyre, 
To  charm  His  ear,  whose  eye  is  on  the  heart ; 
Whose  frown  can  disappoint  the  proudest  strain, 
Whose  approbation  prosper  even  mine  !" 

"  I  remain,  dear  Sir, 

"  Your's  very  truly,  &c  " 


L\PPKND1X.  105 

No.  II. 

LIST   OF    TEXTS    REFERRED    TO    AT    PAGE   91. 


Matt.  iii.  7—12 ;  iv.  4,  7,  10, 11  ;  v.  2—12,  21—24,  29,  30,  38—48 ;  vi.  ; 
vii.  1—5,  7—29  ;  ix.  11—13,  37,  38  ;  .\.  26—33,  37—42;  xi.  20—26,  28— 
30 ;  xii.  34—37,  43—50  ;  xiii.  4—12,  18—23  ;  xiv.  22—33  ;  xv.  21—28  ; 
xvi.  24—28 ;  xvii.  1—8 ;  xviil.  1—6,  10—14,  21—35 ;  xix.  13—15 ;  23— 
30 ;  XX.  25—28  ;  xxi.  28—31  ;  xxii.  2—14,  34—40 ;  xxiii.  8—12,  37—39 ; 
xxiv.  42—51  ;  XXV ;  .xxvi.  36—46  ;  xxviil.  16—20. 

Mark  ii.  21,  22  ;  vl.  45—52  ;  vii.  20—23  ;  viii.  3»— 38  ;  ix.  43—50  ;  xi. 
24—26 ;  xii.  41—44. 

Luke  i.  32,  33,  68—80;  ii.  10—14,  29—35;  iil.  10—14;  iv.  1<>— 
"  moutli"  in  22  ;  vii.  36—50  ;  ix.  28—36  ;  x.  21— 24,  38,  Irom  "  and"— 
42;  xii.  16—21,32,  34;  47,  48;  xiii.  24—29;  xv.  11—32;  xvi.  10—13, 
15,  19—31 ;  xvii.  1,  2,  17,  18  ;  xviii.  9—14  ;  xix.  41—44  ;  xx.  46,  47  ;  xxii. 
31,  32,  56—62  ;  xxiii.  27,  28,  34,  39—43,  46—48. 

John  i.  1—14,  47  ;  iii.  1—3,  5,  6,  14—21  ;  iv.  10, 13  ;  14,  23,  24  ;  v.  19— 
29,44;  ix.  39— 41;  x.  11— 18 ;  xi.  28— 36 ;  xii.  42,  43;  xiii.  12—17,  34, 
35  ;  xiv.  1—3,  27  ;  xv. ;  xix  26—27  ;  xxi.  15—17. 

Acts  1.  11,  from  "  ye  ;"  ii.  41—47  ;  iv.  19,  20  ;  vii.  54—60  ;  ix.  3—6  ; 
X.  1,  2,  34,  35;  xi.  22,  from  "  and"— 24  ;  xiv.  15—17;  xvi.  25—34; 
xvii.  22  from  "  ye"— 31 ;  xx.  17—38;  xxvi.  24—29  ;  xxviii.  26,  27. 

Rom.  i.  16  ;  ii.  28,  29  ;  vi.  1—14  ;  xi.  33—36  ;  xii.  ;  xv.  1—6,  13  ;  xvi. 
25—27. 

1  Cor.  i.  17—31 ;  ii.  1—5,  12—14  ;  iii.  18—20 ;  x.  12,  13,  31—33  ;  xi.  1. ; 
xiii.  1—7. 

2  Cor.  iv.  16—18  ;  v.  ;  x.  4,  5  ;  xii.  7—10. 
Gal.  V.  19—26  ;  vi.  1—5,  7-9,  14—16. 

Epli.  i.  15,  23 ;  ii.  1—10 ;  iii.  14—21 ;  iv.  1—6,  17—32 ;  v.  1—12 ;  vi. 
10— "spirit"  in  18. 

Pliil.  i.  9—11 ;  ii.  1—18  ;  iii  7—16  ;  Iv.  4—9,  11—13. 

Colos.  i.  9—23 ;  iii.  1—17. 

1  Thess.  ii.  1 — 12;  iii.  7 — 13;  iv.  1,  to  "  sanctiflcation"  in  3  with 
girls,  and  to  8  with  boys. 

1  Tim.  vi.  6—16. 

2  Tim.  i.  7—12 ;  ii.  11—13,  24—26  ;  iii.  14—17  ;  iv.  6—8. 
Tit.  ii.  3—5,  11—15 ;  iii.  1—8. 

Hob.  i.  ;  ii.  ;  iv.  12—16 ;  xii ;  1—14  ;  xiii.  20,  21. 
Jam.  i.  2—8,  13,  14,  26,  27  ,  iii.  17  ;  iv.  1—4,  6—8,  10,  13—16  ;  v.  10, 
11,  16. 

1  Pet.  1. ;  Ii.  1—3,  18—25 ;  iii.  1—4,  7—6  ;  v.  5—11. 

2  Pet.  i.  5—8. 

1  John  i.  3—10  ;  ii.  1—6,  9—11,  15—17  ;  iii.  1—3,  14—18,  23,  24  ;  iv. 
7—11,16—21;  V.  3— 5.  14,  15. 

Jude,  20,  21,  24,  25. 

Rev.  i.  4—8;  ii.  2—"  churches"  in  11 '.  iii.  1—11,  14,  22;  v.  9,  from 
'  for"  14  ;  vi.  12—17  ;  vii.  9—17  ;  xi.  15—18  ;  xv.  1—4  ;  xix.  5—16  ;  xx. 
J 1—15;  xxi.  3—8,  27;  xxii.  12—17. 


196  APPENDIX. 


No.  III. 

[extracted  from  the  christian  observer  for  mat,  1817.] 

My  dear  R . 

I  TOLD  you  I  meditated  a  letter  of  some  importance.  Your  years 
of  education  are  over — you  have  entered  into  life  as  your  own 
master — and  it  is  now  my  intention  to  bring  under  your  view  the 
considerations  which  bear  upon  the  choice  of  such  a  plan  and 
course  of  action  m  setting  out  in  life,  as  may  be  most  conducive 
to  your  own  welfare,  and  that  of  your  connexions,  both  here  and 
hereafter.  Mistakes  in  this  point  are  not  ordy  attended  by  present 
danger,  but  are  productive  of  future  difficulties,  and  threaten 
wide-spreading  mischief. 

First,  then,  the  great  object — ^that  object  compared  with  which 
all  others  so  shrink  into  insignificance,  that  in  Scripture  it  is  em- 
phatically called  "the  one  thing  needful" — is  to  be  a  Christian, 
and  to  lead  a  life  befitting  a  Christian.  The  latter  of  these  du- 
ties was  contemplated  by  the  Apostle,  in  his  call  on  all  who  bore 
the  Christian  name  to  consider  what  manner  of  persons  they 
ought  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation  (meaning,  by  that  term,  our 
conduct  in  social  life,)  and  godhness.  The  two  obligations  are 
most  intimately  connected.  The  former  is  the  natiual  fmit  of  the 
latter  ;  and  the  latter  cannot  be  maintained  without  the  former.  But 
there  are  degrees  in  most  things  ;  and  both  points,  therefore,  may 
be  often  substantially  attained  where  there  is  a  mixture  of  much 
imp>erfection.  To  sit  down,  however,  satisfied  with  imperfection 
is  incompatible  with  the  very  essence  of  Christianity  ;  which  re- 
quires us  constantly  to  aim  at  the  highest  standard,  and  to  make  it 
our  imremitting  endeavor  to  be  perfect,  even  as  our  Father  which 


APPENDIX.  197 

i«  in  heaven  is  perloal.  If  we  thus  act  wilh  the  devout  spirit, 
humility,  earnestness,  simplicity,  and  sincerity  of  true  followers 
of  our  blessed  Saviour,  he  will  mercifully  pardon  our  defects,  and 
lead  us  on  towards  higher  attainments  ;  neither  of  which  have  we 
any  scriptural  right  to  expect  while  our  aim  and  desire  are 
bounded  by  any  thing  short  of  Christian  perfection. 

You  will,  I  fear,  think  this  exordium  long,  but  I  must  make  it 
still  longer:  for,  in  order  to  see  what  "conversation"  becomes  a 
Christian,  we  must  call  to  mind  what  is  his  "calling;" — how 
exalted,  how  far  removed  from  the  low  and  mean  standard  of 
those  who  are  Christians  in  name  only,  or  who,  if  Christians  in- 
deed, are  of  so  equivocal  a  character,  that  at  best  they  build  only 
with  hay,  straw,  stubble  ;  and  if  saved  at  all,  must  be  saved  "  so 
as  by  fire."  A  Christian  is  called  "out  of  the  world"  to  have 
fellowship  with  God  ;  while  the  world,  notwithstanding  all  spe- 
cious api>earances,  is  represented  as  under  the  power  of  Satan. 
The  change  thus  wrought  in  him  is  described  as  a  change  "  from 
darkness  to  light;"  and  the  strongest  images  are  every  where  used 
in  Scripture  to  set  forth  his  happiness,  and  the  misery  and  crimi- 
nality of  those  who  have  not,  like  him,  escaped  from  the  snares 
and  the  pollutions  which  abound  among  the  great  body  of  man- 
kind. He  is  spoken  of  as  "  an  heir  of  heaven,"  and  as  sitting 
even  now  "  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus."  They,  on  the 
contrary,  are  represented  as  under  the  Divine  wrath ;  and,  while 
living  "  according  to  the  course  of  this  world,"  are  said  to  live 
under  the  immediate  influence  of  "  the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in 
the  children  of  disobedience."     (Eph.  ii.  2.) 

We  cannot,  then,  be  surprised  that  a  just  and  holy  God  should 
make  so  wide  a  difference  between  these  two  classes,  when  we 
reflect  that,  however  they  may  often  agree  in  inferior  points,  yet 
in  their  leading  and  paramount  principles,  and  in  the  great  features 
of  their  character,  they  are  directly  opposed  to  each  other.  They 
are  opposed  in  no  less  a  degree  than  as  his  servants  and  hi.s 
enemies.  Tliis  view  of  things  is  strikingly  exhibited  in  Mr. 
Wilberforce's  work  on  Vital  Christianity — a  work  which  is  more 
familiar  to  you  than  to  me,  and  for  which  I  know  yoiu*  just 
partiality.     One  passage  to  which  I  particularly  allude,  is  that 


198  APPENDIX. 

respecting   "  good  hearted  young   men,"    and   "  innocent  young 
women." 

The  very  great  difference  between  the  two  classes  which  1 
have  mentioned  is  not  the  only  thing  to  be  noticed  ;  but  also  the 
great  danger  lest  that  class  which  has  escaped  from  the  general 
wickedness  and  peril  should  be  drawn  again  into  the  vortex  by  its 
intercourse  with  the  other.     The  temptations  presented  by  the 
world  are  described  in  Scripture  as  most  alluring ;  and  our  own 
hearts  as  most  prone  to  yield  to  them  ;  while  the  devil  and  his 
angels  are  represented  as  full  of  wiles,  and  as  exerting  them  all  to 
give  to  those  temptations  the  victory  over  us. 
Let  us  consider  these  points  more  distinctly. 
The  world  is  engaged,  as  far  at  least  as  common  prudence  will 
permit,  in  indulging  the  propensities  and  appetites  natural  to  man  ; 
and  its  familiar  maxims,  and  expressions  of  taste  and  feeling,  bear 
the  stamp  of  this  its  course.     Now,  the  great  effort  of  Christians 
is  to  emancipate  themselves  from  the  dominion  of  those  appe- 
tites and  propensities ;  to  "  keep  the  body  under,  and  bring  it 
into  subjection  ;"  and  "  to  crucify  the  flesh  with  its  affections  and 
lusts."     Surely,  therefore,  such  persons  should  avoid  those  who 
pursue  the  opposite  course,  as  far,  at  least,  as  is  consistent  with  the 
business  and  the  charities  of  life.     If  they  do  not,  they  will  al- 
most infallibly  wander  from  God  ;  all  that  is  good  in  them  will 
fade  :  and  instead  of  "  abhorring  that  which  is  evil,  and  cleaving 
to  that  which  is  good" — instead  of  delighting  in  spirituality  of 
character  and  holiness  of  conversation — instead  of  dreading  and 
shurming  the  reverse,  and  feeling  a  dissatisfying  void  wherever, 
though  decorum  is  sustained,  these  holy  and  heavenly  qualities 
are  wanting — they  will  find  the  distinction  between  good  and 
evil  less  and  less  strongly  marked  in  their  affections,  and,  through 
the  influence  of  their  affections,  by  degrees,  less  strongly  marked 
in  their  judgments ;  till  both  affection  and  judgment,  but  espe- 
cially the  former,  will  be  in  imminent  danger  of  passing  over  from 
God's  side  to  the  side  of  the  enemy.     Then  will  creep  upon  them 
the  degeneracy  of  the  church  of  Ephesus,  in  leaving  its  "  first 
love;"  of  Laodicea,  in  being  "lukewarm;"  and  finally  ofSardis, 
whose  Christian  attainments  were  all  "  ready  to  die,"  and  which 


API'ENDIX.  199 

had  fi  name  thai  it  lived  while  it  was  dead.  Thus,  iusload  of 
being  rendered,  by  the  powerful  influence  of  Christian  society 
and  example  operating  in  aid  of  the  other  means  of  grace,  "  meet 
to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light,"  there  is 
reason  to  fear  that,  by  too  free  communication  with  the  world, 
and  by  an  attendant  and  consequent  love  of  the  w^orld,  they  may 
find  in  the  fearful  day  of  account  that  they  have  been  gradually 
prepared  for  the  society  and  inheritance  of  the  wicked. 

You  will  perceive  that  1  do  not  present  you  with  this  picture, 
in  order  to  convince  you  Ihat  we  ought  not  to  commit  ourselve'< 
to  the  full  stream  of  the  world,  in  its  society,   its  habits,  and 
amusements.     Yon,  my  dear  R.,  are  yourself  perfectly  ready  to 
say  in  that  sense,  "  Be  not  conformed  to  this  world."     My  object 
is  rather  to  impress  on  your  mind  how  little  we  should  join  in  its 
course;  how  far  we  should  stand  aloof  from  it.     The  question  is, 
doubtless,  one  of  degree  ;  but  it  nevertheless  may  be  a  question  of 
the  highest  importance  :  for  in  many  cases,  of  which  this  is  one, 
all  depends  upon  degree.     With  men  of  the  world  we  must  of 
course  join  in  business :  we  also  owe  to  them  all  courtesy  and 
kindness :  we  must,  therefore,  have  with  them  some  measure  of 
social  intercourse.     These  circumstances,  aided  by  the  propensity 
of  our  own  natures,  and  the  artifices  of  Satan,  w  ill  infallibly  draw 
us  on  to  too  large  a  measure  of  it,  if  we  are  not  very  strictly  on 
our  guard.    We  shall  be  in  great  danger  of  improper  comphances, 
and  in  still  greater  of  losing  a  portion  of  the  genuine  Christian 
spirit,  and  of  gradually  imbibing  a  spirit  opposed  to  it.     And  then 
what  must  follow  ?     Do  we  hope  that  in  such  case  we  shall  ad- 
vance m  the  divine  life  ?     Do  we  even  hope  that  we  can  maintain 
the  groimd  already  acquired  ?     How  can  we  expect  to  advance  up 
the  arduous  ascent,  when  we  are  setting  our  faces  the  other  way, 
by  undue  intercourse  with  tl.ose  who  are  either  in  the  vale  below 
or  are  descending  towards  it  ?   And  yet  to  stand  still  in  the  divine 
life  is  impossible.     Unless  we  advance,  we  must  go  back.     Some 
fair  appearances  may  still  be  kept  up,  and  our  indulgent  friends 
may  stdl  retain  their  hopes  :  but  all  is  likely  soon  to  become  hol- 
low and  unsound,  and  we  shall  be  apt  to  lose  the  very  life  and 
soul  of  true  religion.     I  will  not  dilate  farther  on  any  of  these 


200  APrENDlX. 

topics  :  but  they  seem  to  me  to  furnish  irresistible  arguments  fof 
fighting  manfully  against  the  seductions  of  the  world  ;  for  pre- 
scribing to  ourselves  a  course  of  conduct,  so  opposed  to  its  course, 
as  with  God's  help  to  preserve  us  from  those  seductions  :  and  for 
maintaining  in  all  our  intercourse  with  society  a  holy  jealousy  of 
worldly  influence,  and  a  holy  distrust  of  ourselves. 

The  circumstance  which  most  tends  to  lull  well  disposed  per- 
sons into  practical  forgetfulness  of  these  truths,  or  at  least  into  a 
very  inadequate  attention  to  them,  is  the  agreement  of  religious 
and  of  decent  worldly  characters  in  so  many  inferior  points,  that 
the  vast  difference  between  them  in  essentials  may  not  at  first 
strike  the  view.  Both  are  obliging,  attentive  to  truth  and  honesty, 
and  to  their  domestic,  social,  and  public  duties  :  both  abstain 
from  gross  vice,  and  acknowledge  the  obligations  of  morality. 
But  on  a  close  inspection,  it  will  appear  that  the  one  class  serve 
God,  mainly,  sincerely,  and  unreservedly,  and  make  his  will  their 
practical  standard  of  duty  :  and  that  the  other  act  on  different 
principles — such  as  those  of  honor,  worldly  estimation,  deference 
to  the  opinions  and  example  of  relations — t  o  all  which,  religion, 
even  if  it  have  any  sensible  mfluence,  is  made  subordinate.  And 
although  the  religious  man  will  be  found  very  far  superior  to  the 
worldly  class,  in  resisting  temptations  to  deviate  from  the  right 
course,  as  well  as  in  the  serenity  and  elevation  of  his  soul  under 
trials  ;  yet  the  best  of  the  latter  class  exhibit  so  much  that  is 
amiable  in  conduct,  especially  when  we  endeavor,  as  we  ought, 
to  view  them  with  candor,  that  we  shall  be  in  the  greatest  dan- 
ger, if  we  be  not  on  our  guard,  of  losing .  sight  of  the  immense 
distance  between  them  and  the  true  Christian.  And  yet,  let  it 
never  be  forgotten,  in  the  sight  of  God  the  one  class  lives,  and  the 
other  is  dead  while  it  appears  to  live :  and  we  shall  die  too,  if  we 
become  conformed  to  it. 

Our  temptation  to  overlook  this  mighty  interval  between  these 
two  classes  is  often  much  increased  by  the  defects  and  imperfec- 
tions, in  many  points,  of  the  true  Christians  we  associate  with, 
when  compared  with  the  worldly  characters  lo  whom  we  have 
access.  The  comparatively  small  number  of  the  former  frequently 
affords  us  very  little  room  for  selection  ;  while,  among  the  latter. 


APPENDIX.  -iOI 

we  have  a  very  extensive  choice,  and  may  suit  our  taste  by  fixing 
on  those  who  are  possessed  of  qualities  which  we  naturally  ad- 
mire. And  while  we  thus  gratify  ourselves  l)y  selecting  pleasing 
associates,  we  shall  be  very  apt  to  give  them  credit  for  much  more 
of  good,  and  much  less  of  evil,  than  they  really  possess ;  and 
consequently  to  multiply  and  magnify  to  our  imaginations  the  de- 
fects of  our  less  fascinating  religious  acquaintance. 

Then  hope  comes  in  to  assist  the  delusion.     We  cannot  think 
that  persons  so  pleasing  will  not  improve,  and  in  the  end,  perhaps 
in  a  short  time,  add  true  religion  to  thoir  other  attainments.    We 
even  flatter  ourselves  that  this  most  desirable  event  will  be  pro- 
moted by  our  own  attentions ;  and  in  this  way  almost  persuade 
ourselves  that  it  is  our  duty  to  give  them  a  large  share  of  our 
society,  and  perhaps  of  our  friendship  ;  nay,  possibly,  we  smooth, 
by  our  acquiescence,  their  unhallowed  path,  and  connive  at  their 
faultiness,  the  better  to  win  them  over  to  rehgion.     The  result  of 
such  a  course,  or  of  any  course  analogous  to  it,  is  far  more  likely 
to  be  prejudicial  to  the  Christian  than  beneficial  to  the  other  party. 
The  firmness  of  Christian  principle  is  weakened,  its  elevation  is 
sunk,  its  purity  soiled,  its  brightness  dimmed,  and  its  influence  in 
the  soul  lessened,  perhaps  lost,  before  the  unhappy  adventtirer — 
who  is  thus  trying  (for,  however  shocking,  so  it  is  !)  what  fellow- 
ship  there   can   be  betwixt   Christ  and  Behal — is  aware  of  his 
situation.     Associations  formed  on  such  principles   will  admit  of 
a  variety  of  shades  and  gradations  in  describing  their  progress  ; 
but  the  practical  result,  I  fear,  is  likely  to  be,  for  the  most  part,  of 
the  same  dark  complexion. 

After  all,  when  we  have  a  propensity  to  indulge  in  worldly  so- 
ciety, does  not  the  evil  lie  deeper  than  in  an  error  of  judgment,  as 
to  what  is  the  best  Christian  course  ?  May  it  not  be  traced  to  the 
absence  of  a  sound  Christian  taste ;  to  the  want  of  a  due  appro- 
val of  "  the  things  which  are  excellent  ?"  If  we  are  in  any  ade- 
quate  measiue  sensible  not  only  of  the  value,  but  of  the  beauty  of 
hohness ;  if  we  enter  deeply  into  the  lovehness  of  the  character 
of  our  blessed  Redeemer ;  if  we  are  in  a  disposition  to  have 
listened,  like  the  converts  at  Corinth,  with  interest  and  delight  to 
the  discourses  of  the  humble  Paul,  rather  than  to  the  polished 


202 


APPF:Nnix, 


harangues  of  the  |)hilosopher.s,  and  to  liave  taken  the  Tenl-makcr 
and  his  friends  for  our  companions,  instead  of  those  admired  sages  ; 
then  surely  we  shall  not  suffer  refined  manners,  mental  ability,  ta- 
lents for  conversation,  and  other  similar  endowments,  to  outweigh 
in  our  esteem  and  affections  those  qualities  of  our  religious  friends 
which  have  the  praise,  not  of  man,  but  of  God,  and  possess  an  in- 
trinsic loveliness,  as  well  as  a  sterling  excellence,  far  outweighing 
all  that  the  world  can  boast.  To  be  alive  to  this  loveliness,  and 
to  respond  to  it  in  the  tenor  of  our  affections,  was  made  by  our 
Saviour  a  distinguishing  mark  of  his  disciples.  (John  xiii.  34, 
35 ;  XV.  12,  17 ;  1  John  iii.  14.)  And  corresponding  habits  of 
intercourse  and  union  are  insisted  upon  very  frequently  in  the  New 
Testament.  (John  xvii.  20, 23 ;  Acts  iv.  32,  &c.)  Lucian,  at  a 
later  period,  bears  testimony  to  this  character  in  true  believers : 
"  See  how  these  Christians  love  one  another."  If,  then,  we  dis- 
cover in  ourselves  a  want  of  this  characteristic,  nay,  if  even  we 
discover  (and  this  discovery  we  may  all  make  in  a  considerable 
degree)  that  it  falls  short  of  the  life  and  energy  with  which  it 
shone  forth  in  the  first  disciples  of  Christ ;  let  us  be  earnest  in 
our  prayers  and  diligent  in  our  endeavors  to  attain  it,  and  to  cherish 
in  ourselves  so  important  an  evidence  of  our  religious  character. 

I  have  stated,  that  a  wish  to  win  others  to  religion  is  sometimes 
urged  as  a  motive  for  improper  compliances  with  the  world.  This 
motive  is  in  itself  so  amiable  and  excellent ;  it  is  so  often  brought 
forward  as  an  extenuation  by  those  who  err  in  this  particular 
respect;  and  is  so  much  held  out  by  the  world  itself  as  an  induce- 
ment for  religious  persons  to  relax  in  strictness,  and  to  join,  more 
than  is  consistent,  in  worldly  society  and  amusements,  that  it  re- 
quires a  particular  and  distinct  consideration. 

Christians  ought  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  their  Saviour  in 
all  things.  His  doctrine,  like  himself,  is  "altogether  lovely;"  and 
grievously  deficient  must  that  disciple  be  in  the  spirit  of  his  Lord, 
if  not  also  in  his  views ]^of  Christian  duty,  who  disfigures  the  Gos- 
pel by  gloomy  austerity,  or  by  a  want  of  cordial  kindness  and 
courtesy  towards  those  from  whom,  by  the  unmerited  grace  of 
God,  he  has  been  made  to  differ.  I5ut  as  an  Englishman  must 
never  forget,  when  surrounded  by  foreigners  with  whose  nation 


APPENDIX.  203 

his  own  is  at  war,  that  he  is  an  Enghshman ;  as  a  good  subject 
must  never  forget  his  principles  and  character  when  thrown  among 
those  wlio  are  adverse  to  the  constitution  of  his  country ;  and  as, 
in  both  these  cases,  kindness  and  courtesy  must  be  accompanied 
by  much  caution  and  prudent  reserve,  and  by  a  studied  care  not 
to  join  in  any  thing  wrong,  not  to  omit  any  duty  to  his  country, 
not  even  to  subject  himself  to  the  suspicion  of  so  doing ;  so 
likewise  must  the  Christian  conduct  himself  in  the  midst  of  the 
world.  He  professes  to  be  a  stranger  and  sojourner  in  it ;  he  pro- 
fesses to  stand  aloof  from  its  principles,  its  habits,  its  spirit ;  he 
has  renounced  the  usurper  that  rules  in  it,  "  the  prince  of  the 
power  of  the  air,  the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the  children  of 
disobedience."  Surely  then  he  must  dread  its  influence,  and 
shun  all  approaches  to  familiarity  with  it :  and  while  he  endeavors 
to  "  abound  in  love  and  in  good  words"  towards  all  men,  he  must 
not  fail  to  guard  against  lowering  the  pure  and  elevated  standard 
of  true  rehgion  in  their  eyes  ;  against  injury  to  his  own  princi- 
ples and  spirit,  or  even  the  subjecting  them  to  suspicion  ;  and  also 
against  giving  any  countenance  to  principles  and  a  spirit  opposed 
to  those  which  he  is  bound  by  every  tie  of  Christian  allegiance, 
and  Christian  gratitude,  to  cultivate.  Even  therefore  if  he  couhl 
make  the  Gospel  of  his  Saviour  amiable  in  the  eyes  of  others,  at 
the  expense  of  any  of  these  objects,  he  would  be  bound  not  to 
attempt  to  do  so.  By  detracting  from  its  character,  and  from  his 
own,  he  might  possibly  render  it  more  palatable  to  those  who 
cannot  "abide  its  purity,"  or  relish  that  which  should  adorn  the 
lives  of  all  who  embrace  it.  But  though  it  would  be  thus  less 
revolting  to  their  natural  appetites  and  passions,  it  would  also  be 
less  an  object  of  their  esteem  and  admiration.  It  would  lose,  I 
think,  more  than  it  would  gain  in  their  eyes,  and  they  would  per- 
haps be  fartlier  from  embracing  it  than  when  it  wore  a  less  accom- 
modating aspect.  But  even  if  they  were  thus  induced  to  embrace 
it,  they  would  neither  embrace  the  true  and  unadulterated  Gospel, 
nor  would  they  in  all  probability  proceed  in  their  new  course  with 
genuine  repentance  and  lively  faith.  Their  Saviour  would  not  be 
the  object  of  their  affection  as  "  holy,  harmless,  and  undefiled,  and 
separate  from  sinners."     They  w-ould  not  hear  from  his  lips,  with 


'204  APPENDIX. 

the  full  and  cordial  approbation  of  true  disciples,  "  Love  not  the 
world,  neither  the  things  of  the  world.  If  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him."  (1  John  ii.  15,  16.) 
Their  Saviour  would  be  shorn  of  those  beams  of  transcendant 
brightness  which  belong  to  Jesus  Christ ;  and  their  Gospel  would 
not  only  in  very  many  particulars,  but  in  its  general  spirit,  be 
"another  Gospel;"  not  reflecting,  like  the  true,  the  unsullied 
glories  of  Christ,  but  affording  only  a  faint,  obscure,  and  imperfect 
shadow  of  Him  who  is  the  image  of  the  invisible  God.  Such 
was  not  the  Saviour  who  came  to  "  purify  unto  himself  a  pecu- 
har  people,  zealous  of  good  works."  Such  was  not  the  Gospel 
given  to  turn  men  "  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power 
of  Satan  unto  God;"  nor  can  scriptural  conversion  be  expected, 
however  smooth  and  flattering  outward  appearances,  through  a 
Saviour  and  a  Gospel  so  mutilated  and  disfigured. 

I  have  hitherto  touched  only  incidentally  on  the  effect  of  an 
undue  intercourse  with  the  world,  on  the  family  and  immediate 
connexions  of  the  person  who  falls  into  this  eiTor,  and  on  its  effect 
also  on  those  who  live  around  him.  It  will  therefore  be  necessary 
to  consider  these  points  more  distinctly. 

First — As  to  his  relations  and  friends. 

Here  the  mischief  must  be  great  and  rapid  ;  ten,  twenty,  thirty 
persons  may  be  very  soon  injured  by  his  inconsistent  conduct ; 
and  among  these  there  may  be  many  far  less  prepared  than  him- 
self  for  meeting  the  threatened  danger,  far  less  fenced  and  guarded 
against  its  worst  evils,  and  far  less  furnished  with  principles  and 
habits  which  may  lead  after  a  fall  to  a  recovery.  Some  may  be 
very  young  and  inexperienced,  others  particularly  pliant  and  un- 
reflecting, easily  captivated  by  certain  showy  qualities,  or  averse  to 
self-denial,  or  very  open  to  flattery  and  self-delusion.  Though  his 
own  bark  should  ride  steadily,  and  preserve  a  straight  course  (ro 
likely  event)  amidst  the  shifting  winds  and  currents  to  which  he 
ventures  to  consign  it,  what  will  become  of  theirs  ?  And  will  he 
thus  run  the  risk  of  destroying  his  "  weak  brother  for  whom  Christ 
died,"  in  a  case  in  which  to  escape  fatal  evils  is  so  difficult  ?  Ra- 
ther let  him  imitate  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  who  declared, 
that  he  would  abstain  for  ever  from  a  practice  innocent  in  itself,  (and 


AFPENUIX.  205 

who  shall  pronounce  that  worldly  conformity  is  so?)  rather  than 
make  his  brother  to  offend  :     (See  Rom.  xiv.  and  1  Cor.  viii.) 

But  particularly,  my  dear  R.,  would  I  call  the  attention  of  any 
person  imdecided  in  his  mind,  or  hesitating  in  his  conduct,  on  the 
point  under  consideration,  to  the  effect  of  his  example  on  his 
children.  How  great  will  be  their  danger,  if  the  habits  of  their 
parents  on  this  point  being  lax,  they  are  led  from  their  infancy  to 
dally  with  temptation  by  mixing  too  freely  with  the  world,  in- 
stead of  being  carefully  taught,  by  example  as  well  as  by  precept, 
that  Christ's  disciples  are  "  not  of  the  world,"  for  that  "  he  has 
chosen  them  out  of  the  world  !"  So  prone  are  the  young  to  gra- 
tify their  wishes,  and  so  seducing  are  the  pleasures  which  the 
world  offers  to  them,  that,  humanly  speaking,  I  see  no  prospect  of 
their  resisting  the  temptation  to  swim  with  the  stream,  if  they  are 
not  early  and  long  trained  by  the  habits  of  their  family,  to  stand 
in  awe  of  so  doing.  As  they  advance  a  little  in  life,  the  young 
women  will  have  to  withstand  the  vivid  sense  of  pleasure,  and 
the  strong  desire  not  to  be  slighted  or  ridiculed  on  account  of  their 
particularity,  and  comparative  seclusion ;  and  the  young  men  will 
be  assailed  by  still  stronger  temptations  at  school,  and  afterwards 
on  a  still  farther  entrance  into  life.  Happy  will  it  be,  (especially 
in  the  case  of  the  latter,)  if  parental  principles  and  the  parental 
system  so  far  maintain  their  ground  in  the  youthful  bosom,  that 
though  the  tender  shoots  of  religion  may  yield  to  the  blasts  and 
blights  to  which  they  are  exjwsed,  the  root,  at  least,  may  be  kept 
alive  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  mercy  to  parents  whom  he  loves, 
and  send  forth  a  fresh  and  more  vigorous  scion  in  after  life  !  But 
let  no  parents  look  for  tliis  blessing,  and  presume  to  hope  that 
their  "  labor  will  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord,"  unless  in  training 
up  their  offspring  they  are  "  sober  and  vigilant,"  and  "  always 
abounding,"  not  only  in  their  instructions,  but  in  their  example 
also,  and  their  family  institutions,  "  in  the  work  of  the  Lord." 

There  are  also  other  relations  not  to  be  overlooked :  I  mean 
such  as,  from  their  age  and  confirmed  Christian  habits,  may  pro- 
bably not  be  misled  by  the  example  of  a  young  relation ;  but 
who  will  be  subjected  to  deep  anxiety,  and  great  pain,  by  his  mis- 
conduct in  the  point  under  consideration.  Among  these  parents 
T 


■206  AFPKNDIX. 

Stand  pre-eminent.  Tliink  what  parents  must  feel  when  they  see 
their  long  course  of  instruction  ineffectual ;  their  example  un- 
availing ;  their  family  habits  abandoned,  abandoned  in  a  point  so 
important,  and  so  near  their  hearts  ;  their  feelings  sacrificed  to  a 
youthful  love  of  pleasure,  or  to  the  fancy,  perhaps  even  the  deli- 
berate judgment,  of  one  who  ought,  in  wisdom  and  kindness,  as 
well  as  in  duty,  to  accommodate  himself  to  their  wishes.  Could 
a  young  person  lose  much  substantial  good,  even  in  his  own 
judgment,  by  thus  accommodating  himself  to  the  wishes  of  those 
who  have  his  benefit  at  heart,  in  the  restrictions  which  they  feel 
it  necessary  to  lay  upon  his  intercourse  with  a  deceitful  world  ? 
Or  if  his  pleasure  is  to  be  balanced  against  tJieir  pain,  is  he  sure 
that  he  gains  more  than  he  takes  from  them  ? 

This  appeal  would  be  just,  even  in  the  case  of  an  only  child . 
How  much  stronger  then,  when  there  are  brothers  and  sisters,  in 
whose  education,  and  confirmation  in  good  principles  and  habits, 
parents  will  find  their  hands  weakened  by  the  indiscretion  or  ob- 
stinacy of  one  member  of  the  family  !  When  they  contemplate 
the  future,  and  especially  the  event  of  their  being  removed  from 
their  family  by  death,  their  fears  of  mischievous  consequences 
will  probably  far  exceed  the  evils  they  at  present  experience. 
Under  such  circumstances,  how  difficult  the  line  of  parental  duty  ! 
To  hold  up  one  of  their  children  as  a  warning  to  the  rest,  is  a  most 
painful  measure,  and  one  from  which  they  will  abstain  as  much 
as  possible  :  but  to  avoid  it  altogether  is  not  always  possible  or 
safe,  consistently  with  their  parental  obligations.  However  guar- 
dedly and  tenderly  they  perform  this  duty,  it  may  lead  to  conse- 
quences which  they  would  most  anxiously  wish  to  avoid,  and  the 
very  danger  of  which  will  affect  them  most  sensibly.  Surely 
when  all  these  domestic  considerations  are  united,  they  cannot 
be  resisted  by  any  young  person  without  a  degree  of  hardihood 
not  very  compatible  with  that  gentleness,  that  spirit  of  accommo- 
dation and  of  deference  to  elders,  and  especially  to  parents,  and 
that  anxious  endeavor  to  maintain  harmony  and  unity  with  fellow- 
Christians  and  relations,  which  the  Go.spel  every  where  inculcates. 
If  the  foregoing  considerations  ought  to  induce  a  child  to  follow 
the  parental  system,  even  when  more  than  ordinarily  rigid,  and  iu 


\prK,M)i\.  207 

some  points  perhapjs  liable  lo  the  impulatiou  of  going  loo  far, 
vv  hat  must  bo  thouglil  of  a  departure  from  that  system,  when  it  is 
marked  by  a  spirit  of  accommodation  as  far  as  duty  will  permit ; 
when  it  is  neither  ofleiLsive  nor  obtrusive  ;  when  it  endeavors  to 
avoid  extremes,  and,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  moderate,  and  sanc- 
tioned, though  perhaps  with  some  exceptions,  by  the  general 
practice  of  the  decided  followers  of  Christ  ?  So  strong  are  the 
temptations  which  assail  youth  in  its  pursuit  of  personal  gratifi- 
cations, or  in  its  eagerness  to  shun  singularily,  and  tihe  ridicule 
attached  to  it — so  great,  in  some  instances,  is  its  thoughtlessness 
as  to  consequences,  and  in  others  its  love  of  a  fancied  indepen- 
dence— that  such  cases,  it  will  readily  be  allowed,  may  exist :  but 
at  the  same  time  no  parent  will  like  to  dwell  upon  them. 

These  things  must  be  said  for  parents  ;  for  (whether  rightly  or 
not)  parents  will  often  have  too  much  delicacy  and  generosity  to 
say  them,  at  lea^st  to  say  them  plainly  and  freely,  for  themselves : 
but  the  subject  will  not  on  that  account  press  the  less  forcibly  on 
their  minds,  and  sadden  their  hearts.  I  do  not  like  to  enlarge  on 
this  topic,  or  to  set  forth  the  long  train  of  benefits,  with  their  at- 
tendant cares  and  labors,  conferred  on  the  one  side,  and  the  cor- 
responding obligations  contracted  on  the  other.  But  could  my 
voice  be  heard  through  the  land,  I  should  wish  solemnly  to  leave 
these  considerations  to  the  dispassionate  reflection  of  the  yoxmg  ; 
and  to  call  upon  them  to  count  the  cost  paid  by  others,  and  above 
all  by  a  parent,  for  their  departure  from  the  principles  inculcated 
in  their  education,  and  from  the  established  habits  of  their  families. 

Secondly — As  to  the  general  eflfect  on  others. 

1  fear  that  an  undue  intercourse  of  religious  with  worldly  char- 
acters is  calculated  to  blind  the  eyes  of  the  latter,  as  to  their  dis- 
tance from  God,  and  to  lead  them  to  think  that  cordial  and  vital 
religion  is  a  thing  more  of  profession  than  reality,  and  to  view  it 
therefore  with  disrespect.  Now,  whatever  tends  to  bring  Chris- 
liunity  down  from  her  high  eminence,  must  tend  to  degrade  her 
in  the  eyes  of  men,  and  to  despoil  her  of  her  rightful  authority, 
while  it  tends  also  to  degrade  her  votai'ies,  and  ])articularly  those 
who  thus  deprive  her  of  her  honors. 

What  1  have  said,  and  shall  have  occasion  still  to  say  in   thi.'^ 


208  APPENDIX. 

letter,  prevents  my  enlarging  on  this  topic  beyond  a  single  obser- 
vation. If  the  blessed  Jesus  himself  was  vilified  as  "  gluttonous 
and  a  wine-bibber,  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners,"  because  he 
mixed  freely  with  the  world,  though  he  mixed  with  it  only  to  lead 
it  to  God,  and  to  perform  the  sacred  duties  for  the  sake  of  which 
he  came  upon  earth  ;  what  is  likely  to  be  said  of  those  who  mix 
with  it  too  freely  without  his  perfect  innocence,  without  his  native 
dignity  or  Divine  wisdom,  and  without  his  object  full  in  their 
view,  and  fonning  the  life  and  soul  of  their  practice  ?  I  beUeve 
no  Christian  of  much  experience  wdll  find  any  difficulty  in  an- 
swering this  inquiry. 

As  this  question,  with  respect  to  intercourse  with  the  w-orld, 
has  been  said  to  be  a  question  of  degree,  you  will  ask,  perhaps, 
for  some  guidance  on  that  point.  It  is  apparent,  that  within  due 
bounds,  the  proper  degree  of  intercourse  will  depend  much  on  the 
pei'sonal  character  of  the  party,  on  the  state  of  his  family,  and  on 
the  circumstances  in  which  he  is  placed  ;  and  his  best  guide  will 
be  the  Holy  Spirit,  operating  through  a  watchful  and  enlightened 
conscience.  But  still  something  may  be  said  on  this  subject, 
which  may  serve  to  point  out  certain  rocks  and  shelves  to  be 
avoided  in  the  Christian  voyage,  and  to  ascertain  the  limits  within 
which  the  course  of  the  vessel  should,  in  all  ordinary  cases,  be 
confined. 

First,  then,  he  must  take  care  that  his  society  shall  consist 
chiefly  of  religious  characters. 

A  man's  companions  will  generally  be  chosen  according  to  the 
prevailing  bent  of  his  own  opinions  and  dispositions,  and  will 
therefore  be  no  incorrect  index  of  the  state  of  his  soul.  But  if 
circumstances  should  throw  him  into  a  circle  of  persons  differing 
materially  from  himself— such  in  the  human  mind  is  the  power  of 
sympathy,  the  propensity  to  imitation,  and  the  desire  to  concilitate 
the  good  will  of  others,  an  object  best  effected  by  becoming  like 
them — that  he  will  probably  soon  begin  to  imbibe  something  of 
the  taste  and  spirit  of  his  new  companions.  It  is  vain  for  any  one 
to  hope  that  his  good  principles  and  dispositions,  and  his  moral 
taste,  will  continue  unsullied,  if  he  associate  much  with  persons 
of  an  opposite  character.     In  hazarding  the  experiment  he   is 


209 


trifling  with  one  of  the  most  powerful  engines  of  good  or  of  evil, 
according  as  it  is  used,  which  God  has  given  to  man  ;  and  he  can 
no  more  control  its  o7)eration,  than  he  could  change  the  course  of 
summer  and  winter.  Its  force,  though  capable  of  being  in  a  mea- 
sure eluded  and  mitigated,  cannot  by  any  means  be  destroyed ; 
and  if  applied  in  the  wrong  direction,  it  will  not  fail  to  impress  on 
his  soul  banefid,  and,  not  improbably,  fatal  marks  of  its  potency. 
We  should  at  once  allow  this  statement  in  political,  and  in  merely 
moral  points.  What  would  be  thought  of  any  man,  professedly 
loyal,  who  was  much,  and  willingly,  in  the  society  of  persons 
notoriously  otherwise  ?  What  of  a  professedly  sober  or  honest 
man  who  associated  w  ith  the  intemperate  and  dishonest  ?  And 
what  is  there  in  religion  to  exempt  the  professedly  religious  man 
from  suspicion  as  to  his  real  principles,  from  the  charge  of  incon- 
sistency and  folly,  and  from  a  progressive  deterioration  by  means 
of  his  companions,  if  he  mixes,  more  than  the  business  of  hfe  and 
Christian  kindness  render  necessary,  with  persons  of  an  opposite 
character  ?  On  the  contrary,  he  will  even  be  more  liable  to  sus- 
picion, and  he  will  also  be  in  greater  danger  than  the  persons 
which  have  been  mentioned,  because,  his  conscience  being  more 
enhghtened  than  theirs,  he  acts  in  opposition  to  higher  principles 
and  more  powerful  checks.  He  professes  to  live  in  the  love  and 
fear  of  his  God  and  Saviour,  and  to  devote  himself  unreservedly 
to  their  service.  He  is  aware  that  he  cannot  do  this  without  the 
aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  "  work  in  him  both  to  -will  and  to  do, 
according  to  God's  good  pleastire."  And  how  then  can  he  hope 
to  be  a  temple  of  that  Divine  Agent — to  have  that  Spirit  dwelling 
in  his  heart — if  he  does  not  act  on  the  rules,  and  pursue  the 
course  best  calculated  to  keep  himself  "  unspotted  from  the  world." 
2.  He  must  abstain  from  intimacy  with  those  whom  he  does 
not  believe  to  be  true  Christians.  Civility  and  kindness  may  be 
well  preserved  without  intimacy.  The  latter,  from  taste  as  well 
from  prudence,  shoidd  be  carefully  avoided,  Avhere  we  have  not 
reason  to  think  there  is  sound  religious  principle.  From  taste — 
because  if  we  value  our  high  calling  as  we  ought,  we  shall  natu- 
rally feel  a  sort  of  repugnance  to  an  intimacy  with  those  who  are 
"alienated  in  their  minds"  from  that  God  and  that  Saviour  whom 


210  APPKNDIV. 

we  deligbt  tu  serve :  from  prudence — because  ijilimacy  reniovt*?* 
many  oi'  tlie  guards  and  reserves  w  hich  to  a  considerable  degree 
regulate  conversation  and  conduct  in  general  society,  and  thus 
prevent  bad  principles  and  dispositions  from  exhibiting  themselves 
to  the  view  of  others.  Besides,  if  intimacy  is  avoided,  that  fa- 
miliarity of  intercourse  between  the  younger  members  of  two 
families,  which  would  be  dangerous,  may  be  prevented,  without 
the  necessity  of  embarrassing  explanations.  On  the  opposite  sup- 
position, the  whole  case  will  be  reversed,  and  the  most  lamentable 
consequences  may  be  expected  to  follow. 

3.  Let  a  participation  with  the  w  orld  in  its  assemblages  for  pur- 
poses of  pleasure  be  avoided.  There  are  mgny  pleasures  which 
the  Christian  enjoys  in  common  with  men  of  a  different  charac- 
ter. There  are  others  of  which  he  cannot  partake  at  all  without 
a  manifest  dereliction  of  Christian  duty.  The  latter,  of  course, 
must  be  altogether  shunned  :  the  former  must  be  enjoyed  in  such 
a  manner  as  nut  to  render  that  which  is  safe  and  allowable  iu 
itself,  unsafe  and  unfit  from  its  attendant  circumstances.  Now 
the  spirit  of  the  world  never  breaks  forth  with  less  restraint  than 
in  its  professed  amusements.  Not  only  do  these  very  much  re- 
move customaiy  guards  and  restrictions,  but  by  being  framed  for 
the  indulgence  of  worldly  appetites,  and  dispositions  merely  na- 
tural, they  draw  these  propensities  forth  into  a  more  prominent 
display  than  usual.  The  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and 
the  pride  of  life,  appear  in  decorovis,  perhaps,  but  very  intelligible 
shapes,  and  in  connection  also  with  so  much  that  is  good  humored 
and  amiable,  as  to  assume  the  most  seducing  appearance.  Happy 
they  who,  having  once  entered  the  magic  circle,  escape  its  fascina- 
tions !  Happy,  If  they  do  not  become,  in  a  measure,  reconciled  to 
the  low  and  unhallowed  principles  of  the  gay  crowd  with  which 
they  associate  !  Of  those  who  think  that  they  pass  through  this 
fire  unhm-t,  certainly  the  greater  part  flatter  and  delude  them- 
selves. At  all  events,  the  Christian  ought  not  to  incur  the  danger. 
Nothing  is  more  imperceptibly  imbibed  than  a  worldly  spirit,  and 
nothing  is  moBe  fatal  than  such  a  spirit  to  the  very  life  and  exis- 
tence of  true  religion.  It  requires  all  the  efforts  and  all  the 
watchfuhiess  of  the  Christian,  even  under  favorable  circum- 
stances, to  escape  its  infection.  What  then  must  be  his  danger, 
when  he  places  himself  in  the  very  atmosphere  where  it  abounds  ! 
— Is  he  not  then  flagrantly  violating  the  precept  implied  in  the 
petition  which  he  so  often  addresses  to  his  God,  "  Lead  us  not 
into  temptation  ?"  Instead  of  "  fleeing  youthful  lusts,"  is  he  not 
throwing  himself  into  the  very  region  where  they  are  prevalent  ? 
And  if  these  questions  cannot  be  satisfactorily  answered,  as  they 
certainly  cannot,  let  him  solemjily  ask  himself  still  another,  Wlie- 
ther  he  is  not  "giving  place  to  the  devil." 

4.  "The  course  of  the  Christian  ought  to  be  such  as  to  shew 
clearly  to  what  class  of  persons  he  belongs.     He  owes  this  full 


APPENDIX.  !2II 


disclosure  to  God  and  to  man,  and  of  men  to  none  more  tlitm  to 
himself.  If  his  conduct  is  ecjuivocal,  he  either  does  not  display 
the  standard  of  his  holy  warfare,  or  he  displays  it  <mly  to  dis- 
honor it.  In  the  first  case,  how  can  he  hope  to  he  acknowledged 
by  Christ  as  his  soldier  ?  In  the  second,  how  can  he  hoi)e  for  the 
meed  of  a  good  and  faithful  soldier  ?  His  light  either  does  not  shine 
beibre  men,  or  at  best  it  does  not  shine  with  such  clearness  and 
purity  as  to  lead  them  to  glorify  his  heavenly  Father.  By  holding 
a  course  whicli  leaves  it  a  matter  of  any  doubt  whether  he  fol- 
lows Christ  or  the  world,  he  violates  his  duty  to  man  as  well  oh 
to  God  ;  for  he  is  required  not  only  to  work  out  his  own  salva- 
tion, but  to  promote  by  every  means  in  his  power  the  salvation  of 
all  around  him.  But  how  can  he  hope  in  any  measure  to  succeed 
in  the  latter  object  unless  his  conduct  bear  the  clear  stamp  of  the 
elevated  principles  of  the  Gospel,  and  therefore  the  stamp  of  their 
contrariety  to  the  principles  of  the  world  ?  And  how  can  he 
exhibit  that  stamp,  if  he  slide  into  a  similarity  to  the  conduct  of 
the  world,  in  points  in  which  Christians  in  general  think  that  a 
decided  and  manifest  distinction  is  requisite  ?  The  effect  of  this 
dubious  system  of  conduct  upon  men  of  the  world  is  very  obvious. 
They  will  imagine,  either  that  the  profession  of  strict  Christian 
principle  is  imsound,  having  more  of  pretence  than  of  reality  in 
it,  or  that  Christian  principle  is  a  far  lower  thing,  and  approaches 
far  nearer  to  the  principles  of  the  world  at  large,  than  is  in  fact  the 
case.  On  either  supposition,  their  conversion  to  (^d  will  be  not 
forwai'ded  but  impeded.  liow  eager  will  the  "  god  of  this  world" 
be  to  avail  himself  of  such  means  of  bhnding  men's  eyes,  and  of 
keeping  them  from  coming  to  the  tme  light  which  alone  can  lead 
them  to  salvation  ! 

But  after  all,  he  who  adopts  so  dubious  a  course,  and  who 
seems  so  backward  to  choose  whom  he  will  ser\e,  most  injures 
himself  His  consistency  will  be  denied  ;  and  it  must  follow  that 
either  his  sincerity  will  be  doubted,  or  his  good  sense  questioned  : 
he  will  be  thought  by  some  to  have  renounced  and  condemned 
vital  and  true  religion,  and  by  othei-s,  to  have  disproved  its  efficacy 
or  existence.  Even  if  he  ultimately  escape  the  imminent  danger 
to  which  he  exposes  himself  of  spiritual  shipwreck,  never  can  he 
hope  to  enjoy  that  elevation  of  soul,  that  solid  j)eace  and  joy  in 
believing,  or  that  extensive  influence  as  a  servant  of  God,  which 
are  reserved  for-  tliose  who,  "  through  honor  and  dishonor,  through 
evil  report  and  good  report,"  proceed  straight  forward  in  theirChris- 
tian  course,  and  are  studious  only  to  discover  how  much  they  can 
do  for  their  great  Lord,  and  how  they  can  best  "  walk  worthy  of 
their  high  calling."  Contemplate  for  a  moment  the  prodigious 
difference  in  the  eyes  of  men  between  the  two  following  charac- 
ters : — the  one  professing  religion,  b\it  departing  from  the  general 
strictness  of  its  most  esteemed  professois ;  nominally  classing 
himself  with  those  who,  as  "  a  chosen  generation,  a  holy  nation, 


212  APPENDIX. 

a  royal  priesthood,  a  peculiar  people,"  are  daily  laboring,  by  God's 
power  working  in  them,  to  obtain  a  victory  over  the  world  ;  and 
yet  in  practice  seeming  not  afraid  or  disinclined  to  associate  pretty 
freely  with  that  world,  and  to  join  in  its  plans  of  unhallowed 
pleasure, — calling  himself  "  a  stranger  and  pilgrim  upon  earth," 
yet  appearing  to  live  among  its  inhabitants  rather  as  in  his  own 
than  as  in  a  strange  country ; — the  other  reversing  this  picture  in 
all  its  parts,  and,  while  he  abomids  in  candor,  and  kindness,  and 
beneficence  towards  all  around  him,  conducting  himself  among 
the  busy  or  the  idle  crowd,  as  one  who  views  their  pvu^uits  in  a 
very  different  light  from  that  in  which  they  themselves  view 
them  ;  as  one  who  has  higher  aims,  whose  ruling  affections  have 
different  objects,  who  orders  his  life  and  conversation  as  even 
now  called  to  sit  down,  "  holy  and  unblameable,  and  unreprovea- 
ble,  in  heavenly  places  with  Christ  Jesus,"  and  to  partake  here- 
after of  all  the  blessings  of  his  eternal  and  glorious  kingdom.  Is 
it  not  plain  what  a  wide  difference  must  appear  in  these  charac- 
ters, especially  to  those  who  have  an  opportunity  of  \iewing  them 
closely  ?  Can  it  be  doubted  which  will  best  reflect  the  adorable 
image  of  his  Saviour,  which  will  most  adorn  his  own  high  and 
holy  profession,  and  which  will  impress  mankind  with  the  great- 
est respect  and  esteem  both  for  his  own  character  and  his  religious 
principles  ? 

And  now,  my  dear  R.,  it  is  time  that  I  should  close  this  long 
letter.  You  know  that  it  has  been  dictated  by  a  sense  of  duty, 
and  by  love  for  you ;  and  I  hope  it  is  not  stained  by  any  dispo- 
sition to  severe  criticism,  or  by  a  wish  to  deprive  youth  of  its  in- 
nocent and  Christian  pleasures.  If  I  have  pointed  out  dangers  to 
which  you  do  not  think  yourself  exposed,  and  said  things  which 
you  imagine  I  need  not  to  have  said  to  you,  forgive  me  a  wrong 
which  has  arisen  from  a  recollection  of  my  own  youth,  and  from 
the  warmest  parental  sympathy  and  anxiety  for  your  temporal  and 
eternal  welfare.  If  my  yeaxs  have  led  me  to  be  too  cautious  and 
too  open  to  alarm,  remember  that  yours  may  tempt  you  to  be  too 
unguarded  and  sanguine.  Above  all,  reflect  that  on  a  point  of 
such  infinite  importance,  it  is  incomparably  safer  to  err  on  the 
side  of  caution  and  circumspection,  than  on  that  of  carelessness 
and  temerity.  I  really  believe  that  the  love  and  fear  of  God  are 
in  your  heart.  May  that  blessed  Spirit  who  has  implanted  them 
there,  cause  them  to  increase  and  abound  and  bring  forth  fruit  to 
perfection  !  But  v»'hen  you  read  of  the  enemy  secretly  sowing 
tares  among  the  wheat ;  and  of  a  Demas  who  departed  from  the 
Apostle,  because  "  he  loved  this  present  world  ;"  you  cannot  be 
much  surprised  at  the  solicitude  of  your  father,  or  think  his  ad- 
monition altogether  out  of  place. 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

R.  S. 


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